Reactivating in 3, 2, 1....

So It's been quite a while since I posted anything on my blogs. after moving out here i found it hard to game.  I worked evening(2:30pm -11:00pm) and all the local gaming(that I find interesting) was happening  on either Tuesday or Wednesday nights.   I wasn't painting because i lacked the motivation of regular gaming sessions.

last October I decided to start collecting some Necromunda stuff, and that got me back into small batch painting.  i wasn't seriously painting and it often took me a month to finish 10 figures.

in April I was approached by a (very)local gamer, Jonathan who was in the same predicament as i was.  he was no longer available to game on weeknights.  We set out to organize a small group to meet in St Albert once a Month, on a weekend.  we had our first meeting on the last weekend in April.  We played a game of muskets and tomahawk using my Imaginations(The Electorate vs Polhynov) and some army lists and rules amendments I had fleshed out before leaving Ontario.

i realized the week before that i had no skirmishers  and very few cavalry for the Polhynov forces so i painted another 8 heavy cavalry and 16 skirmishers before the game:

2nd squadron of Polhynov Husaria  using Front Rank WSS horse Grenadiers

Polhynov light infantry using  OG Polish Dismounted Dragoons

Polhynov light infantry using  OG Polish Dismounted Dragoons

 the cavalry annihilated each other (sadly no pics) and the infantry did much the same. but the  Electorate forces were the first to start falling back so we called it in favor of the Polhynov forces.

Polhynov battle line

The Electorate line advances

the electorate let loose a volley and the Polhynov line retreats, and the light infantry make for the house.

half the Köztársaság Pandours gives covering fire while the
other attempts(successfully) to set the house on fire.

 

 

Polhynov line re-consolidating.

The game was quite successful.  the rules amendments worked and the the generic"Imaginations" armylist I developed for more European style combat(including more useful cavalry) seemed to work out quite well.


i also committed to running a big Battle of Kulm refight ( done a few years ago at Hotlead) on my new 12x5" mat  that i documented on the blog last year. I decided i would paint up the previously missing Prussian forces for the game.  That post will be coming in a few days.

Cheers!

Settled in Edmonton and New Room Set Up.

I've been in edmonton for 2 months now.  Things are starting to settle down a bit.  I've managed to get most of my gaming stuff unpacked.  and i've picked up some display cases and shelves to equip my " computer cave".

the 4 utility shelves arranged along the 12 foot wall. 
my  computer desk is in the opposite wall at the end.

The week after we moved into the new house,  Home Depot was having a sale on black plastic utility shelving.  $27 per unit.  I grabbed 4. they are 18" deep and 36"(3') long. they fit perfectly on one wall, as the wall is 12' long.  nearly all my miniatures, terrain, and supplies fit on them. On the opposite wall there is an alcove that is 6' wide, and 32" deep.

The Alcove, After furnishing

I picked up 2 Detolf display cabinets a few weeks ago form Ikea.  I was back down in that area last week, so I picked up a pair of Dioder lighting kits.  This past weekend I was in Canadian Tire and they had a bookshelf on sale that perfectly fit the space I had left over.  My books finally have a home!

so with that my little room is complete.  I bought 4 folding 6' x 2.5' tables, which i can set up in the main basement area(rec room) for games.  My only problem at the moment is that i don't have a gaming mat big enough to cover all the tables.  So now i have to come up with a plane for a 5'x12' gaming mat!  Always a major project in the works!


I have done some painting in the last month.  I painted up a unit of 8  foundry continental Infantry for the forthcoming  AWI project, using Muskets and Tomahawks.

first unit of the 2nd Pennsylvania regiment

 I've found after several playtests that using the "varied" unit sizes in the main book doesn't work well.  Because of the way the rules represent firing,  a max sized unit of 12 line will crush an 8 man  of rangers, or any other irregular force(other the light infantry).  sure, irregulars have better firing, but if the line unit has 50% more fire, the better to-hit is irrelevant.  now this is more pronounced in the more irregular forces (rangers, Couriers de bois, various riflemen, militias etc)which are limited to max units of 8, or sometimes 6.  i know many of these units are supposed to be weaker then line units, but in many cases they were not, specifically in the north American theater, where la petite Guerre was so common.  but the morale system, coupled with the high casualties rate from fire, cripples units of 6-8 in often a single volley.   my simple solution is just to keep everything in units no larger then 8(few units can be smaller then 8 anyway). this levels the playing field, and lets the point system balance all other differences, in my opinion.

Muskets and Tomahawks: First Impressions

last Friday I was invited to Muskets and Tomahawks at a friends house.  So I packed up my Indians and rules and headed out.

initial setup of the board

We arrived just ahead of the crowd(there ended up being 8 of us), and Craig (the host) had set up a wonderful looking table.  He included a log cabin settlement at one end of the table, and a  Indian village(which you may recognize) at the other end.  Taking both the settlement and the Indian village were the french Main objectives.  the British had to keep them.

British regulars and grenadiers defending the settlement

No one had played the game yet, but several of us had the rules handy.  Dan and I had read them thoroughly. Fortunately the mechanics are fairly simple.

Jordan's Regulars and grenadiers stare down 2 units of
my Indians

Before we deployed our troops, we all rolled a side plot in secret. by pure coincidence, 2 of the french chose Dan's provincials as the target/source of their side plot.  then Dan deployed right in the middle of the table. as a result the game sort of revolved around Dan's provincials.

Mike's Regulars and My Indians Take potshots Dan's Provincials

 I had gleaned early on that my Indians had no chance crossing open ground against Jordan's grenadiers to get to my objective beyond, so I helped kill Dan faster so I could then get Mike's line units to help me. 

Dan's Provincial Line watches as him provincial lights get
wiped out by Canadian Militia.

However in a rather ironic turn of events, my Indians Charged and killed Dan's officer(Colonel Washington figure), not knowing that  doing so kept the other 2 players from completing their side plots.  which is fine because by the time we finished going after the provincials, neither of the remaining regular french infantry at hand  had enough strength left to oppose the British regulars in town.  so i didn't get my objective either.

My Indians Prepare to charge Dan's Provincials

 In the end 2 French players were wiped out along with 2 British players.  the remaining french converged on the Indian village and took it after some fierce fighting by the defenders. we called it a tie since both sides occupied one objective.


Overall the system was fun.  I did find that musket fire is ridiculously deadly. Especially when coming from a firing line. Two suggestions made were to drop the lethality of muskets, carbines and pistols to 4+ instead of 3+. Not a huge change, but potentially enough.  It would also have the side effect of making artillery slightly more potent. which might not be a bad thing because the general consensus from the net is that artillery looks pretty but is kind of useless most of the time.  We were also thinking, that for our games, we might remove the rolling for additional casualties on a recoil. For irregulars and Indians this would keep them from evaporating after a single volley most of the time.

Dan and I are going to try this set of rules out with our imaginations. So we'll see how that goes.