A House Divided... ... can make for a good game!

July 4, 2015 --- At the request of a few of the historical players at the Hamilton Road Games Group, an American Civil War game using our "home-brewed" variant of Iron Ivan's This Very Ground was set up. Bear (in his persona of Col. Beauregard Clemens Bayer) and Wayne (who had played Iron Ivan games before, just not this one) ran the Confederate side while Brian and I ran the Union troops. Andy set up the terrain and took over on the Rebel side when Wayne had to leave by mid-afternoon.
Each commander had three 12 man squads and a 12-pounder cannon (6 crew). The Federals also had a small (6 man) section of sharpshooters. In our variant, the usual personal weapon is the rifled musket with a range of 25", while the sharpshooters carried a sharpshooter's rifle with a 36" range. The cannons range was up to 60" so just about the entire board was in range. We chose the 12-pounder Napoleon cannon because it was the most common. Smaller calibre cannon were found but not often.

(Andy and I took all the photos.)

The game table at the onset of the whole thing. Anything 2 inches outside the rail fences was considered light woods.
Beauregard contemplates his strategy.

Wayne's troops line up to enter.

Good beans!
This is a piece of cloth Andy found somewhere which really looks good as a cultivate field for a game like this.
If you turn it over, it's a dark brown or black with some green lines, so it looks plowed and early in the season.

Brian and I won the initiative roll and moved first. I pushed on section in skirmish order into the woods on my right flank while I brought up the two other platoons in loose order. My gun stayed where it was, behind the rail fence and my sharpshooters moved up along the hedge line in skirmish order. Brian sent two sections into the woods and brought one up through the pig-sty to a stone wall. His gun faced Bear's along the outside of the fenced-in compound. Wayne and Bear pretty much mirrored our deployment and first move. No one was in musket range right off, although my cannon did some damage to one of Wayne's sections which stayed back at the rail fence at the start line. 

Both sides tried to come to grips as soon as possible. Wayne (and later, Andy) and I exchanged a lot of musket fire. Bear quickly brought up two sections to occupy the rail fence in the middle of the farmstead and the farm house. A third section came to the corner of the rail fence to oppose Brian's skirmishers in the woods. In the mean time, Brian's cannon took out four of Bear's gunners and soon after Bear's gun silenced the Union gun by wiping out the crew. Brian's skirmishers finally cut Bear's artillery crew down to one man - who could still fire the gun, but had a serious problem loading it and a bigger problem turning it. The Confederate section along the rail fence facing the woods went prone (an variant move for us.) which makes them harder to hit but really vulnerable in combat. Basically their opponent gets a free hit at the prone troops who could fire but can't realistically fight hand-to-hand from a prone position.

Beauregard positions his leading section in the bean field.
Each section was 10 muskets, one officer, and one drummer or standard bearer.
The musician/standard permits a quick reform of the unit after a voluntary retreat or "ski-daddle."

Zouaves of the 146th New York cross the pig sty to take position on the stone wall.
Their lead is the sergeant seen closest to the camera. The green bingo chip means the unit has been activated that turn.

Confederate standards making a quick advance... too quick for my camera to catch.

Bear's Virginians take cover at the rail fence.

Brian measures a movement as his skirmishers advance.

The 146th take the wall.
The yellow chips indicate that the unit has fired a "half volley." It will take two turns of doing nothing to be fully reloaded.
(Perry plastics)

On my side of the table, my cannon did pretty good service keeping the Rebs' heads down. Wayne's/Andy's eventually took out two of my six crewmen, the loss of whom didn't slow my rate of fire. My lead unit advanced to the rail fence in the centre of the field where they exchanged fire with the Confederate troops across the field. Their shooting was better and my unit was eventually reduced to the officer, the drummer, and one musketman. My second section shifted right and moved over the rail fence and into the woods to join my right-most section in opposing the gray-clad skirmishers there. In the centre, my squad of sharpshooters picked off one or two Confederates but were eventually wiped out as well.

My two centre sections advance. The rear-most continued to shift to its right until it moved over the fence.

The advance at ground level.

My troops have come over the fence and the Confederate skirmishers await their next move.

The sharpshooters skirmish across the field and hedge.
(Perry metals)

Wayne/Andy's troops move along the edge of the woods.

"Them's are the fellas what shot down the sharpshooter, they are!"

My cannon in the process of reloading.

Andy took control of the Confederate left when Wayne had to go, and he began a slow pull back. He decimated my one section but pulled his two sections in the woods back. His gun had taken casualties from some counter-battery fire but was still in action. The question soon came up: do we want to continue? Andy felt that it was time to pull back and leave the field to the Union, although the Union had lost a cannon, the sharpshooters, and the majority of one of my sections. I more or less controlled the centre of the one side of the farm, while Bear controlled the other side with troops in the farmhouse. Brian considered charging Bear's prone troops which would mean negotiating a rail fence while charging. He'd get a free hack at Bear's prone unit, but getting there was the problem. Then would come the troops in the farmhouse. The section of the 146th at the stone wall was more than one charge move away, so they'd most likely sustain heavy casualties before hitting the untouched unit in the farm house. 

That's where we left it. Probably a winning draw for the Union since it was time for the Southerners to withdraw and fight another day. We cleaned up and discussed next week's event (reenacting), politics, and other innocuous treason.

 

A view of the action in the woods from another perspective.

... and from closer to the ground.

In a final desperate attempt to defeat me and to confuse me,
Andy deployed the elite Alabama Ent Brigade.

Meanwhile at home, some of the beasties who share our yard help themselves to some extra bird seed.

On the way home from church today, we stopped at a hardware store for a tape measure.
I saw this beauty in the parking lot and brought it to Beth's attention. Now Beth loves Italian exotic cars,
so we had to take a few photos. She said he hadn't DRIVEN one of these in 35 years!
That's right; She said DRIVEN. My wife has had such adventures!
A Dethomaso Pantera ...so choice.

Next week, a "time-line" reenacting event. I'm looking forward to this.

Christmas is saved! Ring the bells!

It's getting close to Christmas. We lit the fourth candle on the Advent wreath today. Well, it went out, so we blamed the Christmas Mouse. (It seems that there's a German custom that blames anything and everything that might go wrong at Christmas time on die Weihnachtsmaus. So why not?)

At the Hamilton Road Gaming Group, we usually lead up to Christmas with the famous duel of Snoopy vs. the Red Baron. That was done last week to accommodate Martin who was leaving to go to the family estates (as it were, a-hem) in Timmins, ON... where there be gold mines! Anyway, this week, we played a scenario-based game of Iron Ivan's Pulp Era game, Where Heroes Dare! Beth developed the scenario where Santa is being held captive at the North Pole. It seems that the Krampus has decided that everyone has been naughty, so no gifts of anybody! He and his main confederate, the Grinch, gathered their band of gangsters and storm troopers and are holding Santa in the Christmas village! Teams of adventurers have mobilised to free Santa and same Christmas. Could there be a more noble mission?

Here are the teams:

From Baker Street, Sherlock Holmes, Dr, Watson (bare-headed), Inspector Lestrade, and a constable. Gladstone the bull dog rounds out the party. (Sad to say, no one chose this party.)

The always get their man. The RCMP sends their best. Sgt. Preston, PC Trueaxe, PC Frasier, and PC Witherspoon.
King and the rest of the dog team are standing in front of "The Commissioner." Beth ran this team.

Andy dubbed this guy "The Commissioner." It seemed right.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, at your service! From left, the Invisible Man, Mina Harker, Mr. Hyde, Captain Nemo, Dr. Jeckyll, Special Agent Tom Sawyer, and Alan Quartermain. Hyde replaced Jekyll when the potion was drunk. Quartermain is a Copplestone figure available only to those who made a purchase at Historicon a few years ago. Quite rare and we take good care of him. (Bear and "Team Bear" ran this outfit.)

Hyde (Reaper Miniatures) and Jekyll

The US Rocket Corps under the command of Lt. Rex Steele. Andy's crew
All Pulp Miniatures and I really like them.

<Que maniacal laughter> "The weed of crime bears bitter fruit!"
The Shadow and his crew - The waiter, Moe Schrebnitz, Margo Lane, the Shadow, the Physicist (soon dubbed "Sheldon") and a street thug. Kevin was skipper of this crew. (Reaper, Pulp, and Copplestone figures)

The hostages - an elf, Santa, the Christmas Mouse, another elf, Bernard the head elf, and Dominic the Italian Christmas donkey. (Reaper, Copplestone, Games Workshop, and Mithral miniatures)
They were being held in one of the village buildings.

Santa and die Weihnachtsmaus

The Krampus' gang - The big guy is the Krampus, two gangsters, the Grinch, a Russian gangster, and two Stormtroopers (were you thinking Brown Shirts?) This is a real mixed bag of figures and Derek ran this group.

A disgusting close-up of the Krampus, the Grinch, and two gangsters - one by Copplestone, the other by Ral Partha

Santa's village at the North Pole - view from the west
The yarn defines the edge of the pine forest. The reindeer landing strip is in the foreground with the stables.

from the east
The little blocks are "Dare Points" where something happens - maybe a clue, maybe a trap, who knows?

From the south east

"Jingle Bell Square" with the Christmas tree to "rock around."

Santa's house

 

Santa's workshop  --  There was also a headquarters building and a records shack for the "naughty-n-nice" list.

Before the guys arrived for the game, some of the local kids wanted to play. Each one took a member of the League and went to save Santa. Your humble blogger wa the gamesmaster.

"Can I move this far? Can I still shoot?"

Mr. Hyde trades punches with the Krampus while Mina Harker sneaks up in her vampire form to bite the Krampus.
Iccch!
In the end, the girls freed Santa and, having found his sled earlier, took off to safer places
... like Macy's or a Hudson's Bay store.

When the guys all gathered, each brought their team in from a different point. Bear took all the little girls and formed "Team Bear" with each taking a member of the League. As Andy entered, one of his Rocket Corps took off with his rocket pack and promptly exploded! (It's a "Mad Science" gizmo and you roll a d10 each time it's used. If you roll a "10", the ref consults the "Mad Science" table and some sort of malfunction happens. As luck would have it, I - the gamesmaster and Santa - rolled a "10" for the table and the poor trooper exploded in mid-air. We all responded with sympathy: "Oh, look! Fireworks!"

Poof goes the Rocketman!

Team Bear doing their best!

Constable Whitherspoon buys the farm and the RCMP is pinned!

The Krampus and some gangsters face down the Rocket Corps. Tommy Guns all around!
"Awright, youz guyz! Take care-a them gold helmets!"
"You mobsters can't win while Rex Steele is on the case!"

Having searched Santa's residence, two of the Rocket Corps finest search for more goals.

"Da Krampus iz down! Let's revenge 'em!"
"Stand where you are, your blackguards, or feel my Thompson's wrath!"
(Yeah, it's hokey, but it is Pulp!)

The Thug takes a hit.
"Bwa-ha-ha-ha! Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?"
The Shadow can cloud people's minds and possesses an Eerie Laugh.

Stormtroopers commanded by the Grinch fight it out with the League.
Here Mina attacks a Stormtrooper with a vampiric bite. Quartermain and Sawyer had been busy, sniping and hitting the Grinch and one Stormtrooper. The "blank" stand is the Invisible Man. He took a wound (hence the white ring) before he threw his coat off and was invisible. While invisible, he could only carry a knife.
Where he'd hide it, I'd rather not imagine.

Another view of the same action with Mr. Hyde joining the fray. Dr. Jekyll could take his potion as his only action for his move and the next turn Mr. Hyde would take his place, a stronger but less controllable member of the team.

Hyde and the Grinch square off. The Grinch carried a scoped sniper rifle and had wounded Quartermain and knocked Captain Nemo out of the game earlier.

... and the Grinch is down!

Meanwhile at Santa's workshop, the Rocket Corps made short work of the mob, giving them the "Big Sleep" as it were.

A view of the table from the League's point of view. Nemo is down. Quartermain and Sawyer shoot from the woods. Mina and the Invisible Man move toward the hourse and Mr. Hyde prepares to rush the house and the Grinch from the edge of the pine forest.

Having disposed of the Grinch and his guard of Stormtroopers, the League moved into the village. The final two Stormtroopers passed their morale and broke for a tunnel entrance in Jingle Bell Square. The tunnel let to the place where Santa and his companions were being held and the Stormtroopers intended to ruin Christmas for everybody (except the Emperor, I suppose) by putting Santa on ice, permanent like. They got into the house and opened fire with a light machine gun (a BAR, I'd guess). Die Weihnachtsmaus, game trouper that he was, threw himself into the line of fire and took the two bullets meant for Santa. Dominic the Italian Christmas Donkey then kicked the living life out of one of the Stormtroopers while Santa let go with his Eerie laugh and the remaining Stormtrooper lost his nerve. He ran out of the house and Quartermain took him down with his custom hunting rifle, Matilda. The League had discovered Santa's sleigh at the landing field at the beginning of the game, so they rescued Santa and flew off with him, having received the agreement of the other teams. The Shadow's crew, the RCMP, and the Rocket Corps all agreed that since the goal was to save Santa and Christmas for all the children (and the grown-ups who believe!), they wouldn't dispute this. Team Bear took the honours with high-fives all around!

I enjoyed gamesmastering this game. Beth created a good scenario, but the curve ball was the fact that Derek chose the Krampus and his evil underlings as his team. I expected to captain all the evil folks while the other players ran the rescuers. It still worked and we enjoyed the silliness of the game for a Saturday afternoon before Christmas.  Just for the record, almost all the figures were painted by your's truely, Beth having painted the others. Andy brought two of the houses and at least half the trees. The rest were from my collection.

A few days before, the Crouch Branch Library, the place that gives us a place to game on Saturdays, held an open-house and asked if we'd run a display game during the two hours of the open house Wednesday evening. Andy, Beth, and I agreed to come up and run a game. Kevin was held back by family things, Martin was packing to trek home, and Bear, with his mobility problems, couldn't arrange the needed transport. Still, we set up a Wings of War display and ran a short game with Snoopy, the Red Baron, and another German flyer. Snoopy came up with the short end of the stick.

We set up out in the main part of the library to attract more traffic. As it was, there were only a few people who came by.
The small building are not a necessity; they just add to eye-appeal.

Snoopy finds himself in trouble. Andy flew the Sopwith Camel Snoopy prefers. I was the Red Baron in his Fokker. Beth flew the Pfalz fighter.

Our hero is in real trouble! The Baron was on his tail for two straight turns, and down he went, shaking his fist and cursing in some ridiculous beagle-ese. Not to worry though! He'll be back! He always returns!
The German planes are the Wings of War miniatures. Snoopy is a paper model taken from the Internet and made 3D.

I hope all you reader of this blog have a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! If you don't celebrate Christmas, I still wish you the best for the close of the year and the beginning of the new. Good gaming, All!