Visits: 52
It was one of those crazy things… I have never played a game by the rules A GENTLEMAN’S WAR by Howard Whitehouse… not I intent to… but I finally fall for the units organization (one never knows).
So, here they are… finally 24 Infantry models + Brigade Commander or whatecer is my fancy…
Enjoy!
Visits: 63
Every time they do something I am obliged to Post it… marvellous painting and collecting… and what is more they enjoy themselves above the concept of “winning”… I can not agree more with them.
A fantastic bunch of pals.
Enjoy!
Visits: 54
You have recently seen them in action in the ANTIETAM/SHARPSBURG reenactment-wargame (SOLO).
I guess they are a bit difficult to photograph… one do his best believe me!
There you have the Infantry Brigades on the lower centre of the pic (by two different painters of minis), Artillery on the right of the pic, plus Cavalry mounted and dismounted, Division generals and Corps Commanders, and Robert E. Lee. There are also Cavalry fording a river (blue base) and even a stand with foreign observers.
Even if I used painting services, I added painting details here and there, and put the flags myself. At 71 I could not wait to paint them myself… lol
The standard recommended Infantry Brigade in some sets of rules are the two rows of 12 minis with 4 skirmishers in front… I did that or organize them that way until I realized there were a lot of possibilities around and the minis in the stands could add more feeling to the army. So then I did designs of my own mainly understanding that you do not need skirmishers behind earthworks and other circumstances… I hope you can zoom in on the pics. I do include one myself to make the point.
Cavalry is represented “charging” in line, but also in more conservative stances dismounted and in column of squadrons.
Some special stands to cross bridges and pontoons and of course supply wagons.
Hope you like them.
Enjoy!
Visits: 70
You only have to go to the BACCUS Forum… search for Baccus 6MM in Google and you will be easily directed to it.
We have an interesting debate about the use of Big Bases for wargaming (I am against it in MY games because I love flexibility and it took me ages to adopt the system one stand equals a Brigade… even if I am pretty satisfied now).
No doubt they are little works of art. Military Modeling I dare say!… but for wargames purposes I have my doubts.
Mind, always on the back of my mind there is the idea of building a unit in 1/1 ratio in 6MM… but NOT in a single base… I did it once with Captain Dajou’s third Co at Camerone in 25/28MM (Hacienda de Camarón) 1863… but they were in single bases or maximum two minis per base if I recall alright… there are pics somewhere in this webpage… search for it if interested… but I digress.
Peter Berry has it’s own legion of customers (me included) and the Forum on his web is probably one of the most satisfactory experiences for 6MM aficionados… full of ideas and suggestions of proxies for rare periods…
I thought maybe a post about it would interest the lot (or some) of you.
As you have seen in my ANTIETAM/SHARPSBURG series my biggest base is a 60×30 mm … so not going to change that for nothing!
Enjoy!
Visits: 44
Those 54mm by Scott are always stirring toy soldiers!… Do not tell me the subject is well known!
Exotic to say the least!
Napoleon’s III intervention in Mexico (Because the Mexicans were not paying their international debt!)… follow the money!
Wonderful Toy Soldiers!
Enjoy!
Visits: 39
There are seven Posts so far… but that does not mean it equals seven turns or seven hours… so do not extrapolate please… it is a slow and quite parsimonious tale.
After chaotic fighting for the cornfield Hooker’s First Division retires and he throws in his other two divisions supported by Artillery. The Confederates also replaced their tired troops by fresh one’s and the fighting continues.
Sumner is advancing as planned and so is Mansfield!
The morning goes on… but the day is young yet… Burnside continues doing nothing… (except sending cavalry patrols to find a ford) McClellan is worried by his imaginary inferiority in numbers (THAT is very difficult to translate to the tabletop… but I guess having Franklin and Porter in RESERVE account for that!).
I can only play about an hour or so a day (and not everyday because real life intrudes a lot… but it is fantastic to have a permanent table in a safe place!… you know what I mean…no one is messing with the tabletop at all… but me)
So far so good. satisfied… still working on mechanisms but the battle flows quite right!
Enjoy!
Visits: 51
Do not tell me this Post is childish because it isn’t… wonderful Fortification or Castle (what you prefer), nice Toy Soldiers… and a PURPOSE!
Yes, the British are attacking the Russians!… it smacks of the Crimean war (War was War back then.. you know!)
How can you play (unashamedly) with Toy Sodiers…
Enjoy!
Visits: 59
As promised… a division of Hooker’s Corps goes forward, a Brigade simply refused to move so instead of 4 brigades only 3 make the attack… Confederates have their problems too. All that because one thing is “to move around in the countryside” and other to move against an enemy. (Dice involved simulated field of vision and local orography… but also excuses -read officer’s characteristics-to do not move…).
So I used red and blue dices to show the relative strength in numbers of Brigades. Those are added to a six sided dice result and there must be a real difference in pips to have a decisive result (one or two pips difference are ignored)… More in following attacks. Brigades have a tendency to stand or even recoil quite easily… more difficult to press attacks… There was even a case of enfilade fire that did not succeed!… I had fun (not guaranteed)!
As I have said before 4 turns is the maximum “time” (time is flexible again) a Brigade can stand on the frontline fighting… afterwards must retire tired even if victorious… some exceptions will be worked on further on. This is shown with the use of white and black mini dice. So in fact I micromanage the fights that seems “hours” to participants… while the rest of the Corps (both sides) await results.
Quite if not completely satisfied with the first experimental solo rules… ties where resolved with the turn of a card for each side… if that also (it did not happen) was a tie I have gone to the deck of ultra rare or unpredictable tides of war situations that happened in real life.
My kind of “game” is quite impartial and develops like a film or scene… I am an spectator of it… but I expect Armies to behave like the Historical one’s. So far so good.
More next days.
Enjoy!
Visits: 57
Guess this afternoon I will proceed to reenact the first clash between Hooker and Jackson… it is slow sometimes I agree… but I am still experimenting with command&control and combat mechanisms. It must be tiresome to follow… but at least you have plenty of pics (curiously enough my mobile phone does it better than my old camera)…
My table is flat (got criticized by that in facebook) which does not mean the real terrain was flat at all that is taken care of by visibility options but also the fact that once firing starts smoke and noise will prevent God’s Own View… I mean it is probably God’s Own Scale… but the troops engaged where “lost” in the chaos of the firefight.
One of my phobias concerning Toy Soldiers is stands “balancing” in imposible positions over railroad scenery modeling terrain… sorry chaps… but this is what it is… neither troops fighting on top of woods a la LITTLE WARS TV way (which has very good points and creativity -aka Trafalgar- but not that particular one!)
Hope you follow me.
Enjoy!
Visits: 51
It says wargame in the title… but this is an exaggeration… call it Umpire’s delight (Impartial), Chaos&Casualties, History on the Tabletop, Epic Brawl, Attrition for hours!… a lot of names come to my mind with no real effort…
Funnily enough bickering/arguments between wargamers do not concern me at all… by example I started the battle setting the table and the troops (Armies in 6mm please) without a hitch, I even switch brigades from one Corps to another if wrongly deployed… anything goes… I am reading for the umpteenth time rulesets and books about the ACW and ANTIETAM/SHARPSBURG in particular… and so far have gotten to a lot of conclusions…
FIRST: NO need to write down all the possibilities of movement and distances the troops can manouever… if not in contact with the enemy it is pretty straightforward… and that’s that!… easy enough to my satisfaction (SOLO).
SECOND: I will pass of generals characteristics as in Altar of Freedom for example (a good set of rules for multiplayer games).
THIRD: ALL movements count as simultaneous as the fire from guns and muskets… I will do my own table about that…
FOUR: ONLY three status for Brigades, say FRESH/ORGANIZED (1); HAVE BEEN ENGAGED/TIRED/DISORGANIZED (2 ) (synonymus in my book); SPENT/RETREAT TO A SAFER PLACE/NO USEFUL AGAIN EXCEPT IF ATTACKED (3)… more about that third category later on but it means basically you can not use them anymore in that battle… NO running out of the table… just a safe distance. Brigades of (1) and (2) categories can recoil, retreat, and do “things” until they go (3)… meaning they can be rallied and pushed forward again… NO BRIGADE CAN STAND MORE THAN 4 CHAOS FIGHT (all fighting is chaotic…and there is or will be a lot of compulsory movements… that would be the more complicated thing to translate in writing I guess) NO plans resist contact with the enemy.
FIVE: There would not be Victory points neither a “clear result”… once the slaughter stops Armies will stop fighting and as in real life you (ME) will count casualties (more or less) and for once would like to see a result similar to the one in real life… Armies would have done what they intended to do but once a third of the brigades of either Army (or both) are in the (3rd) status call it SPENT… Battle stops… and I do not give a damn which Army retreats first for ressuplying/reorganizing etc. CONSIDERE THAT SIMULTANEOUS after truce to get the wounded etc.
Quite strange?… simply my way of seeing things… I do not particularly relish in ACW medical services (William Holden or not), amputations, and the rest… a hellish place to see a battlefield after an engagement… let’s consider my way an eagle eye (or fly on the wall) approach to those epic brawls.
Chaotic Fight will please you or not but I intend to explain in detail (more or less), the same way Division Generals are not considered in detail in some rules I use them when Corps Commanders are Killed or Wounded… have to write my blank cards using BELLO LUDI as a model to resolve ties… “Colonel gets the jivers and runs to the rear as in real life happened”, “Out of Ammunition”, “Sudden Panic”… the lot what!
Hope you enjoy a bit!
