Retired

 October 3 was my last day working. I decided to take an early retirement to spend more time with my wife. One would think with all the extra time I would get more gaming in; but no such luck. I have been busy doing work around the house that has been building up for awhile. This week I started cleaning the ceiler, and trying to get rid of 30 years of collecting clutter. I did decide to enlarge my "wargame room". I plan to get rid of my existing wargame table and set up a larger dining table for my new wargame table.

I also have decided to unbox all my books and put them back into bookcases, with the goal for going through them and getting rid of books I no longer need.

The current state of my wargame room.

Frontier 15mm Mexican War Miniatures Part 2

 Last night I opened the Mexican cavalry. There were 15 figures that represent the 1st cavalry, with lances and leather crested helmets. There were also 15 figures with shakos and carbines representing the Mexican line cavalry.

The cavalry figures with shakos.

The 1st Mexican cavalry figures 

Frontier 15mm Mexicans Part 1

 After my last post, I naturally went to check Ebay to see if there were any new Frontier Miniatures. Surprisingly, there were 2 large bags of Mexican American War Mexican Miniatures. One was infantry, the other cavalry. I know the last time I was thinking of ordering from Frontier in the 1990s, they went to selling mixed bags of infantry or cavalry, where you couldn't order just what you wanted, so I'm guessing these are from around that time.  As I'm retiring in a few weeks, I have been being careful on my spending. However, I also figured these figures could be a good long project for me, so I purchased them. 

The Mexican cavalry

The infantry opened.

The command figures of the infantry set.

The infantry separated. I haven't got a count out yet, as I opened it right before going to bed.

Frontier 15mm French Napoleonics in Bicorne

 When I first got interested in wargaming again in the late 1990's, I dug out my old Modelers Mart catalog to order some figures. This is when I bought some Frontier War of 1812 figures. I was also looking at their early Napoleonic figures, but never bought them. I especially like their Sans Calotte figures.

Recently I saw a lot of Frontier French in bicornes. I bought them, with the idea of using the for Napoleon's Italian campaign.

New 15mm War of 1812 Minis

Some of my first 15mm War of 1812 minis were Frontier Miniatures. A package of Frontier Miniatures came up for sale recently. It was hard to tell, but from the photos they appeared to be American infantry  which I have been looking for.

I won the auction and was pleasantly surprised  to find they were the minis I was looking for. Above are two of my originals from 20 plus years ago. They are my favorite War of 1812 minis.

I got 20 in the package, doubling the number of figures. For now I have to decide how to paint them. I am thinking of doing one 4 man unit based on the Maryland 5th Militia Regiment.

 

Ideas and an Extra for Epic Gettysburg

 

With 60 stands of infantry, I was thinking of different games and how many units I could make. With "Junior General" rules I could have 10 regiments of 6 stands per side. A regiment in line.

The same regiment in column.

A 5 stand regiment, the size used in "Black Powder".

A 4 stand regiment that could be used with Battle Cry. Each side would have 15 regiments. Of course if using "The Portable Wargame" each side would have an impressive 60 regiments!

The flag sheets that come with the game. I made 2 copies.

When I bought the game, it was with the understanding that the farm house and fences weren't included. However while looking for some of the disconnected figures, I found the farmhouse and fence kit.

Warlord Games Gettysburg Epic Miniatures

 Like many people, I wanted to get Warlord Games Epic Gettysburg  game. The figures were the main attraction to me, but the price was more than I could see spending.

I recently came across a partial game with just the figures and rule book at a price thatI could afford. One sprue of Union figures were taken off the sprue, but otherwise there were 23 unused sprues. I bought them for a "future" project. I am thinking of using them unpainted. My idea is to use white craft glue to attach them to their bases, so if I do decide to paint them, they will be easy enough to remove them from their bases. I mounted one regiment the I  received in Wargames Illustrated to bases with the white glue. It seems to work well.

The 23 sprues recently purchased.

The test regiment glued up.

Future Plans and Games

 I have decided to retire 2 years earlier than planned. I don't  want to bore people with the details. My wife has been retired for 4 years and spends these days alone. I figured that she could use some company. 

  As I'm sure I will get on her nerves, I am also making plans to give her quiet time. Needless to say, wargaming features prominently in these plans. 

 I have placed 2 rather large orders for figures based on a couple of ideas for campaign games. Both dealers contacted me and explained that there would be delays in my orders and did I want to wait or cancel  the orders. Before I would probably have canceled the orders; as I don't plan to retire until October, I am in no rush for the figures. I guess retirement might not be so bad if it means I can slow things down.

Just a few samples of possible projects: a 2mm American Civil Wargame using either  The Portable Wargame and it's different campaign rules, or Archduke Piccolo's rules he used in his Eckmuhl campaign. Also Archduke Piccolo's recent Hex Shambattle could be used as a mini campaign. I would also like to start an imaginations world using the various 30mm semiflat toy soldiers in my collection. Just off the tip of my head I have enough figures for 6 different countries.

Some of the 30mm semiflats in action.

One of my 30mm battles where supply wagons and ambulances played a part in the battle. I would like to work some kind of logistics into future campaign games, even if it's just ammunition wagons on the battlefield.

Some Scruby N gauge SYW figures. I have placed a good size order of ACW figures for a possible campaign game.

2mm ACW blocks in action. I placed an order for more of these figures, along with covered wagons and a couple of pontoon wagons for another planned campaign. 
I decided to order the figures I want now, as I'm sure once I retire cash won't be a available as it is now.

Junior General Test Battle

    It is my plan to retire early in October, so I can spend more time with my wife, who has been retired for 4 years  and is going crazy being home alone. As I know she will be trading one kind of crazy for another, I have been coming up with ideas to give her space when needed. Hopefully that means getting more wargames in!

  One set of rules I liked when I started playing was Junior General rules. I based up a lot of Airfix figures to use with them and found the games very enjoyable.  I decided to try them out again using some Historifigs Miniatures painted as War of 1812 armies and used Chippewa as the inspiration for the game.

The armies drawn up; Americans nearest camera, British on top.

As soon as the British are in range, they start taking casualties. The reserve British regiment forms into column to speed up movement as the British left is suffering more losses.

The British continue to take heavy losses, but still don't return fire, except the artillery. The British  commander starts having the reserve form line.

The British finally close range and gets some payback for their losses.

The British leftmost unit drops to one stand. In Junior General, when a unit drops to one stand, it is removed from play. At this point I forgot that rule.

At this point the Americans  start turning the British left flank.

The Americans fire on the last of the British infantry on the left and eliminates  the unit.

The British commander sends a unit into a bayonet attack. In Junior General, if units close for close combat, the attacker rolls for morale. If they roll equal to or less than the remaining stands, they pass morale. Then the defender most roll for morale if the attacker passes their morale check. At this point, both units passed morale checks.

One rule I had almost forgot is the defender may fire a volley when the enemy gets within an inch of them. The American fire, and both hits go through. That drops both sides down to two stands. With the close combat rolls, the Americans win the roll. The British lose one stand and must retreat. However, now that the unit is down to one stand, it is eliminated!

The results of the close combat roll. 

At this point the British are down to one infantry unit and their artillery. They win the initiative roll and retreat.

It was a fun game, but of course with both sides with the same units and no real terrain features, it was just a slogging match. I think it would also help having each side move only one unit, then the other side move one,etc. 

Rabbits Go to War

The brown rabbits decide to attack the greys, hoping to rescue their fellow rabbits being held prisoner.

The brown rabbits attack with a vengeance. They manage to drop the grey leader.

Losses on both sides mount: still neither side breaks.

Finally, both sides pull back, exhausted from the fight. As the day wears on, the injured rabbits return to their camps. That evening the three prisoner rabbits return home. The Grey's concede defeat, at least for now.