More Casting and 2 Wargames

         My wife has had to work Saturday nights recently. I try to get all my work done early to get some gaming in. This week, besides my usual work, there was a union meeting which I had to attend, which went on for 2 hours. It was also a beautiful day so Jerry got some extra playtime in. It was getting late and it looked like little gaming was going to get done.

         After my last casting session, I decided to order some new metal. In the past most metal has come from old home casts that I never used.  I ordered some low melt, easy pour metal. Hopefully this would solve some of the issues with the molds filling properly. It proved to be a wise investment. After the casting session, there were enough figures to complete one army of soldiers in tricorns, and enough for another 4 units. I have learned not to skimp on metal.

        I also got two wargames in, one using Peter Laing Turks vs Mamelukes, just because they are such good figures.  The second game, my new 2mm Irregular Miniatures ACW armies "Saw the Elephant". And speaking of "seeing the elephant", for this game the rules used were fromThe Stronghold Rebuilt and are called "See the Elephant". There are several interesting twists to these rules that make them a great little set of grid based rules. Perhaps the best is that cavalry has a range of two, and when adjacent to the enemy, still only get two dice. The reasoning for the range of two is that cavalry often dismounted and fought as skirmishers. And when closing with the enemy,  they don't seem to simulate a heavy cavalry charge. I really can't think of too many cavalry charges in the Civil War  against infantry, simply because a charge against rifle muskets could be suicidal. The rules are free and I strongly recommend that you at least give them a look.

Newly cast AWI figures.

Peter Laing Turks vs Mamelukes

Mamelukes won the battle

2mm ACW battle.

The good thing of battles at this size is the board can be picked up and turned so you can view  the battle from the playing general's side.

The left Confederate brigade stays on the "reverse slope" to avoid the Union artillery. The Confederate cavalry on the right is "dismounted" and is firing on the advancing infantry brigade.

The Union start pushing forward a 3rd brigade into the fight.

The Confederate cavalry has been pushed back.

The Rebels deploy an infantry brigade to protect the right flank. At the left of the picture another brigade is moving to reinforce the right.

The Confederate left moves forward to try to distract the Union general. The Rebel  brigade on the right  deploys and is facing two Yankee brigades.

The Union left brigades push forward. The right Union brigade moves off the ridge to engage the dismounted Confederate cavalry.

The Union left have caused 50% casualties to the Rebel brigade and it has been forced back.

The Union now orders forward all their units.

The Union brigade assaults the left ridge and breaks the last regiment holding  the ridge. The Confederates right collapses completely and the Rebels concede the field. (If the Confederates had won the initiative roll, they would have conceded the battle before they lost so many units. This would be important in a campaign.)

This game proved a most enjoyable game. I changed a few things from the rules, mainly I used Battle Cry dice instead of 6D dice that are use in the rules.