This week I almost bid on a lot of semi flat ACW figures. As the bids went up, I asked myself did I really need another scale of Civil War figures (they were 45mm)? In the end I didn't get them. But it also raised the question; should I narrow down my collection of Civil War figures? At persent I have figures in at least 8 scales.
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| An example of the diffent scale Civil war figures, going left to right: 2mm, 10mm, 15mm, 20mm, 30mm, 40mm, 54mm. Missing is 13.5mm of Epic Civil War Battles. |
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| I bought some new artillery for my 2mm armies. They are cannons being towed by caissons. I find handling them easier than deployed models. I haven't decided wither to paint the soldiers on the stands, or just leave them brown and keep them "generic". |
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| I have been wanting some Mignot Civil War figures after seeing them in a children's book on Gettysburg. This lot came up on Ebay for a very reasonable price. Now that I have them they will probably join other figures on the shelf that only come out when I think of buying more. Although I could see them being used in a garden skirmish wargame. |
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| For a long time I have wanted to get supply wagons for my 2mm Irregular Miniatures blocks. The idea is to use them in some way in a campaign game. I finally got some of them. In the above photo, a line of the wagons are passing through a town. I really like the looks of them. Now to figure out how to use them in a game. |
It was one of those morning where I couldn't sleep. I have been busy painting some 2mm Irregular Miniatures blocks. While waiting for them to dry, I decided to play a quick game using my cigar box armies.
The board was set up with random landscape. Both armies had 4 infantry and 2 cavalry units. For rules I used "See the Elephant" rules.
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| As usual, my pictures came up jumbled. This picture shows the end of the game, where the red army finally defeated the blue army. |
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| In this shot, at the upper right a blue regiment has been surrounded by the red army. I wasn't sure how to handle this situation. At this point I was going to have them surrender, but they fought on, and were wiped out. |
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| Early in the battle. It looked like the blue army was going to break the red's center. |
While still not doing much with the hobby, I did manage to paint some Peter Laing Highlanders, with the idea of using them with "The Portable Wargame" and using "the Battle of Hook's Farm" as the scenario.
To paint the figures, I used Vallejo "Model Color" acrylic paints. I wanted a gloss coat to give them a toy soldier look. The only gloss I had at the time was Tamiya lacquer gloss clear coat. Unfortunately it started washing the acrylic paint off the figure.
I put the figures aside, as my wife and I took a trip to Pennsylvania with our new camper. When we came home I saw the figures sitting on the table and found Vallejo gloss coat, which was quickly ordered. The Highlanders finally got their shiny uniforms, which came out as I was hoping.
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| The Highlanders, finally completed. |
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| I finally was able to download a few pictures of the Combined Wargame. |
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| The start of the game. I used the rules in the book to deploy both armies. |
I am a big fan of Mike Lambo's solitaire wargame books. They are completes games with rules, maps, and even counters. All you need is a couple of dice and you're ready to play.
Mr. Lambo has produced two books on the American Civil War. I have played several games and enjoyed them. However, I started to think, what if I used different rulesets with the maps?
Today I decided to use Mike Lambo's map of the Battle of Big Bethel. The armies would be deployed and activated using the rules in the book. However, movement and combat would use Stronghold Rebuilt's "See the Elephant" rules. I enjoy the StE rules and they can make for an unpredictable game. I did use Battle Cry dice, ignoring the crossed swords, unless a general was targeted.
As I thought, it was a fun game. About half way through I realized; what are the victory conditions? The rulebook said that a Union unit must hold the Church hex. I suddenly realized that the church was unoccupied and exposed to a Union attack! I must admit that suddenly the Confederate strategy changed rapidly, and a couple of units had to retreat to protect the church.
In the end a Union unit did capture the church, but the Confederates drove the Union troops out of the church, and back across the river. At that point I called the gamea Confederate victory.
A number of weeks ago I woke up in the middle of the night. As I laid there trying to go back to sleep, my thoughts turned to some Heritage ACW figures I was working on, and how to use them in games. In my mind I figured to use them in units of 4 with one figures carrying a flag, as in Battle Cry. However, in rolling dice each figure would roll 1 dice. If there was any retreats rolled, only a figure would retreat, instead of the entire unit. To retreat the standard, the unit would not be able to advance until the standard returned to the unit.
The game was a mishmash of several rulesets. I got up, scribbled some notes down, did a little painting and based the figures, and later in the evening tried a quick game with the rules.
I suppose that they could be made into a workable game, especially with the addition of artillery and cavalry, but I don't think they would be better than using Battle Cry, See the Elephant, or Horse and Musket 2.0. They did provide a couple days of working on wargames, which was much needed.
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| The armies in action. It was good to get a game in, however, I don't think the rules would offer anything exciting or new that can't be found in other existing games. |
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| The 2 armies lined up at the beginning of the game. |
Steve Parker of Orc Publishing has released his newest set of Dominion rules; " Dominion of Marlborough and Peter the Great". It is familiar setup of rules and 24 historical battles.
To be honest I was not sure if I was going to buy this set of rules. I have bought the entire set of rules, with the exception of the Ancients battles book (I couldn't get it to let me buy it). I really like these rules, but do I need all for the sets?
In the end I chose to buy them. When I first started gaming, one of my first books was Peter Young's "Charge!". So my first armies were 18th century armies, including Edition Brokow Marlborough figures.
With this newest addition, I bought heavy card stock and a stapler that could go through all the pages. I am happy with the result, and have decided to put new covers on all my different "Doninion of" rules.
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| The new cardstock covers. |
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Ork Publishing has come out with their newest ruleset, "Dominion of Patriots and Redcoats". As one can figure out, it is a ruleset for the American Revolutionary War, which makes good sense as it's the 250th anniversary of the start of the Revolution.
The format is the same as other rulesets; explanation of the rules, some suggested army list, and 24 battles. All for under $6.00.
When I first started in wargaming, my interest was early American wars, from King Philip's War to the Mexican American War. With this current volume, I am thinking revisiting doing early American wars. Besides doing French and Indian War, his lists includes other Indian wars. And looking at these new rules, they can be used for the War of 1812, a war that I am especially interested in.
Once again I am thinking of trying the suggested armies with different rulesets. I just have to get motivated!
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| My newest rule booklets. As I started doing with other sets, I put the Quick Reference Sheet on the back of both booklets. |
I've been trying to get a game of one of the newer "Dominion of.." sets of rules played. Of course wanted to use miniatures with the game. Unfortunately the figures I've been looking for are packed away. Probably just as well, as the figures I wanted aren't painted, which would mean a delay in playing.
The answer was right under my nose: my cigar box armies of 2mm Irregular Miniatures. I brought out the figures and fought the battle of Mollwitz, using the guide in "Dominion of Frederick the Great".
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| The start of the battle. With these rules, every unit costs at least 2 points, elite units 3 points. I put 2 stands of blocks for normal units, three stands for elite. This is for my benefit, so I remember to give elite units their bonuses. |
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| The Prussian artillery defeated the Austrian center;the Austrians push an infantry unit into the center. The Austrian cavalry on the left drives off the Prussian cavalry. A Prussian infantry unit fills the gap. |
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| The Prussian right flank infantry drives off the Austrian cavalry. The Austrians use their last reserves to fill the breach. The Austrian center manages to drive off the Prussian artillery. The Prussians send forward their last reserves. |
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| The Prussians break the Austrian center; the Austrian cavalry on the right drives off the last of the Prussian cavalry. |
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| The end of the battle. The Prussian right tries to eliminate the last Austrian infantry, but fail. The Austrian cavalry hits the Prussian center on the flank, and the Prussian center crumbles. The Prussians are down to one unit, and must retreat. |
Sometimes rule sets will get the wargaming world abuzz. It also happens in the niche wargaming world. A perfect example is Bob Cordery's "The Portable Wargame", which has inspired many wargamers and led to several books and and variations.
The newest set of rules that has the "Portable Wargame" world excited is Steve Parker's "Dominion of.." series of wargame rules for different periods. The rules themselves are explained in around six pages, followed by a playthrough of the rules. He also includes army lists and battles. For the best description of the rules, Bob Cordery's Wargaming Miscellany is a good place to go.
These rules are available through the Wargame Vault for a very reasonable price. I downloaded the rules, then print them out with 2 pages on each sheet. It makes for nice little pamphlets. Most of the books I divide in half, with the rules and playthrough in one pamphlet,
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| My "Dominion of.." booklets. |
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| On the back of each booklet, I put a copy of the "Quick Reference Sheet". |
While looking for figures on Ebay, I came across several lots of Peter Laing 18th century miniatures. While I have quite a few already, one of the lots was of American Revolutionary War figures, which I have very few of. Another plus was they were here in the USA, so the postage wasn't bad. I ended up buying 4 lots (the 5th lot was a little overpriced).
Now I just have to figure how to use them.
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| The lot of AWI figures. |
A couple of weeks ago I watched Ridley Scott's " The Duellists". As usual, it got me in a Napoleonic mood. I started looking for some Napoleonic figures that would work for painting up as duelists of the period. Perry Miniatures does have a set of figures specifically of duelists with spectators. It is a nice set, but I'm not sure that this isn't a project that will just be a one off game. I also was thinking of trying to kitbash Airfix Royal Horse Artillery figures into a couple of swordsmen, but with my limited number of figures of this set, I decided against it.
As the main protagonists in the movie were hussars, I looked at my different plastic 1/72 hussars in my collection. In the end I chose 2 Airfix British Hussars. I just glued them to bases, sprayed painted black and slapped some paint on. Although not the best poses, I am happy enough with them. The project also cost no extra money, which was nice.
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| The figure on the left is Gabriel Feraud of the 7th Hussars, the right figure Armand d'Hubert of the 3rd Hussars. |
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| Of course while duelling, one would keep their weapons closest to their opponent However, I think the pose works. |
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| I might do a little more touch up on the figures, and put a coat gloss coat on them. |
One of my last posts I mentioned about painting some 10mm ACW figures for skirmish wargames. Since that time Mike Lambo came out with another solitare wargame book, "Battles of the American Civil War June 1861- July 1862 A Solitaire Wargame". As I had commented on a couple of his sites that I hoped he would come out with an ACW game, I felt I had to buy this book.
Last night I tried a game out. It was an enjoyable game (maybe because I actually beat general AI for once!). Of course most of his games are fun to play. It helped that I have played Avalon Hill's Battle Cry in the past. I am not saying it's a rip off of Battle Cry. The units used are the same size and line of sight works the same, but the rules are different and the AI makes the game a whole different game.
The game itself has different rules from his other games, so you are not playing the same game as his other books. It also gave me an opportunity to use my newly painted 10mm ACW figures with this game.
One other plus with this book; Mr.Lambo is coming out with a second volume of ACW Battle scenarios. I was hoping he would do this with his Napoleonic wargame book. Perhaps if the second ACW is successful he will do the same for the Napoleonic game.
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| Once again my pictures show up in reverse order. This is the last move, where my cavalry close combat the last Union infantry and eliminate them, giving me the victory. |
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| The Union AI army advancing on my right flank. In this game you roll three dice to activate three sections out of 6 sections. The Union couldn't get the rolls needed to activate their left until later in the game. |
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| The beginning set up. The Confederates are grouped in the center of the game board. |
I was cleaning my basement (again) after remodeling our bathroom. I also bought a card table to use in my wargame room, so it was set up to see how much room it used. Next thing one of my Elastolin castles was brought down and a quick duel game was played out using the Les Higgins duelists and Donald Featherstone's dueling rules. For the rules instead of cards, I used dice.
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| The duelists fight it out in the castles courtyard. |
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| The dragoon has pushed Vincent Price to the tower top. I broke the castle down into different zones. As they suffered a wound, they would retreat one zone. Vincent is down to his last wound. |
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| Vincent suffers his last wound, and falls over the parapet to the cobblestones below! |
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| The start of the game, where Vincent tried to hold the dragoon from the open courtyard. |
I found on my Kindle a set of rules that were downloaded years ago, " Simple Rules for Two Dueling Figures" by Michael Barlow. I believe they were from Lone Warrior magazine. They were a simple set of rules to use with the Les Higgins duelists.
I recently bought some 10mm ACW figures to use with skirmish games. I based some of them on craft sticks and primed them with black paint.
Last night they were divided into Confederate and Union units, and I started painting the uniforms.
This morning I woke up at 5:00am with a bad headache, caused by neck problems. At 6:00 I gave up trying to sleep. I got up and took something for the headache, got a cup of coffee, and checked the usual websites. Slowly the headache went away, and looking at my painting station, got the sudden urge to do some painting. I actually got the figures just about completed, along with doing some more work on the Les Higgins duelists. I was happy with the results, doing more detail work on the 10mm figures than originally planned. I also believe that it might just be good therapy for my essential tremors.
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| Some of the painted figures, along with clip on magnifying glasses. |
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| A strip of figures in the clamp, freeing up my hands so I can use both hands to steady the paint brush. |
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| A clip on work light with a good LED bulb gives good lighting without straining the eyes. |
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| The finished figures. They just have to be taken off the sticks and mounted on individual bases. |
