Deja vu All Over Again.

       In my last posts I have mentioned recent purchases of Micro Machine tanks and Minifigs 1st generation ACW figures. So I decided to get a game in; however out came the Peter Laings again!  I was going to use Chris Salanders Horse & Musket 2.0 rules on a squared off board. Having just finished "Donnybrook"  a book on the first battle of Bull Run, Bull Run would be used again. I would roll 5 Battle Cry dice to decide what units could move, based on the image that came up.

   Once the battle started the game quickly slowed down. Some moves only 1 or 2 units were moving. Once battle was joined, using the Horse & Musket rules individual figures would be retreating instead of the whole unit. This can lead to widely scattered figures throughout the field. After about 45 minutes I went back to using Bob Corderys Memoir of Battle rules.  The game quickly picked up. However, the game played out as the "Battle of Sow Creek" with basically the same result. Needless to say there's no need to recap it again, although I have added a few pictures so as to highlight the Peter Laing figures.

The Union line.

The Confederate army.

The Confederate cavalry flank the Union right.

The Union start to break the rebel line.

The Union try to turn the Confederate right.....

....and breaks the line.

The lessons learned:  don't play the same scenario so close together.  Also, Chris Salander's rules are better suited towards skirmish style games with small number of figures.

Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men.....

    With the out of state company gone and my wife back to work after vacation, I had high hopes to get a game in today. I just wanted to get "one small job" done besides the regular work. The small job took 3 hours and so once again there isn't time for the game. But with the beautiful weather I had to get Molly out for some fresh air. Of course after a while she went out back and confronted......

Young Thomas Turkey!


Luckily the turkey is young and Molly is old and the turkey won the race to the woods.

I have in the last week received two lots of Micro Machines which might come in handy in the future.  6 Sherman tanks and 6 Russian SU100 assault guns. They seem to fit well with my WW2 Peter Laings.  I have also just  made a new mold of PL WW2 American submachine gunners, which I think can pass as modern soldiers.                                                                                      

New Books and ACW Minifigs

    As mentioned in an earlier posting, while in Maryland I spent an afternoon and a large amount of money at a bookstore with a large collection of military and history books. He mentioned that he sold 150 Osprey books to a dealer in my hometown. This week I finally got to stop by at that bookstore and purchased 15 Ospreys; I might have to make another run soon.

    With company staying for a week with us, all wargaming activities have pretty well stopped, which is difficult as I  just received a large lot of 15mm 1st generation Minifigs American Civil War figures. I also got my new rubber for making molds, which also is put on hold. I am going to try to start planning which figures will be used for molds. Among the candidates are Victorian Parade German goose-stepping officer and drummer, Victorian parade  cyclist, Sudan campaign camel corps (Egyptian and British) and WW2 American SMG ( these will form the base for modern armies using the Micro Machine tanks), Airfix marching Civil War infantry.

One of the original Ospreys from the 70's. The bookstore had several more of these that I would like to buy.

Another good book for my Micro Machines Memoir 1980 wargame.

I finally completed my Osprey Falklands set; also timely after my Port Stanley war-
game.

Minifigs 1st generation Confederates firing.  I'm leaning towards using the Minifigs replacing the plastics that come with Richard Borg's Battle Cry game.

1st generation dismounted Confederate cavalry.

Union cavalry with carbines.

1st generation Zouaves with kepis. These are my personal favorites. As many early Union regiments wore this style uniform these might be used in a Battle Cry battle with units in dress uniform.

Reverse side of the Zouaves.

Rush's Lancers; another great figure.

Time to Plan

       The last week I have had little time for wargaming, and the coming week is no better. In what little time there is, my mind continues to drift towards wargaming modern battles. Reading Pete Belli war-game reports on Board Game Geek using Memoir'44 rules has me wanting to use Micro Machines military vehicles with these rules. Pete Belli uses 1/72 plastic figures with the Micro Machines; an idea I was going to use. However, now I'm leaning towards using my Peter Laing WW2 figures.  Mr. Belli uses a modified set of rules,  Memoir' 80; a modern version of Memoir' 44. I have been trying to find these rules on line, without success.

   Below are some shots of the Micro Machines, next to some Peter Laings.

This vehicle is actually a Hot Wheels miniature. I think Hot Wheels tried to cash in on the Micro Machines craze. I really like this model of a Scorpion reconnaissance vehicle.

 U.S. M113 APC.

German WW2 Panther tank.

German Tiger tank.

 155mm howitzer.

 M1 MBT.

M2  Bradlee IFV

Battle of Port Stanley

As mentioned in an earlier posting, I came across a Memoir 44 scenario on the Argentinian invasion of the Falklands at The Stronghold Rebuilt and have been wanting to play it. The 15mm figures that were purchased for this game went unused; Atlantic 1/72 modern figures took their place.  Instead of using the movement cards,  used a variant where I rolled to see which troops could move. I usually don't use the grenade for the extra kill, as it makes for a bloody game. For movement I wouldn't use it  either.  If the star came up the side rolling could move one of their elite units.

At the left of the picture, the research station held by Royal Marines; the center Port Stanley held by two units of the Falkland Defense Force; on the right the government house held by Royal Marines.  The two units at the top are Argentine commandos moving onto Port Stanley after their raid on the empty Marine barracks at Moody Brook.

Five units of Argentine Marines moving onto the research station.

The Argentine commandos start inflecting losses on the RMs at Government House  and  push back one FDF unit in Port Stanley.

The FDF counterattack and push the commandos back.

In this game both sides need 4 victory points to win. If the Argentine forces can capture and hold Government House and Port Stanley, as each one is worth 1 victory point, the commandos try to capture both before their Argentine Marines come up.

Another shot of the action in Port Stanley.

The commando attack on Government House presses forward, and the commandos in Port Stanley  are having so luck with their fight against the FDF.

The commandos, hit from both side by the FDF, suffers heavy losses and are force back. Where are the Marines? 

The commando unit pushed out of Port Stanley decides to attack the research station and try to link with the Marines. The RMs weren't expecting to be hit from behind. The first marine force can be seen advancing in the top of the picture.

The Commandos finally capture Government house.

The RMs recapture the research station.

The commandos cut down the last RM from Government house. The now have two victory points.

At the same time, the RMs in the research station exact some revenge by eliminating the Argentinian comma do unit. Where is the Argentine Marines? It seem every time I rolled for Argentina, they got everything but the "infantry" symbol!

Now the FDF makes a mistake. They move forward to take the commandos at Government House under fire.

The commandos push forward, cutting the FDF off from Port Stanley, the FDF taking heavy losses.

The commandos now enter Port Stanley.

The RMs attack out of the research station to hit the advancing Argentine Marines.

The Argentine Marines hit the RM unit and pushes it back, away from the research station.

The RMs move back into the research station and push back the Argie Marines.

The Argentine Marines counter attack and captures the research station.

The commandos eliminate the last of the FDF in Port Stanley. At this point the Argentine forces have their 4 victory points, but the British still have their move.  If the FDF unit moves forward to Government House and recaptures it, the Argentinians will lose that victory point.

Hindsight is 20/20; the FDF attacks the commandos in Port Stanley instead!  Their attack fails. At this point the game should be over, however I forgot what the victory conditions were and kept playing. What happened after this point is then moot, but I will show what happened after.

The typical Argentine roll; nothing useful at all!

The FDF keeps attacking.

The Argentines move forward.

Another Argentine roll!

The commando unit finally get rid of the last of the pesky FDF and wins the game! AGAIN!

The Argentine Marines cheer their victory, especially the three units that never got to move!
As can be seen, if I was going to play this scenario it would need a little tweaking.


One thing about this scenario was that I found out about the Falkland Defense Force, which I had never heard of before. As my very limited military experience (one year in the Massachusetts State Guard), I needless to say have a great interest in such defense forces. Of course, in reality from what I read only about 40 out of 100 men from the FDF showed up for the battle; although several ex members played a part in the liberation of the Falklands.