Introductions are in order.

I mention a lot of guys when I blog my gaming. It's time to introduce them. (I have their permission.)

Andy got me into the Group after I moved to Ontario and met him at a local hobby shop. He's a veteran of the Canadian Air Force (excuse me if I don't use the proper titles; the name of the service has changed at least once since I've lived here.) where he retired as a sergeant. He's a veteran of Operation Desert Storm and knows his stuff about the military. He also got my family and I into reenacting and has since joined our unit. He enjoys almost any sort of gaming, but prefers figure gaming of the SYW, ACW, AWI, F&IW, WWII and in a number of scales. (15mm, 25mm, 54mm) He's also a rabid fan of the Hamilton Tiger Cats of the CFL, his home town team.

Martin is a doctoral student at the University of Western Ontario in Economic Geography. (And I though I studied esoteric stuff!) He's from Timons, ON and is an Ontario Francophone, which makes us overhearing his mobile phone conversations very interesting. He likes moderns, early 20th Century naval, and Ancients. We share an enjoyment of the pike-and-shot period.

 Derek is a fellow I met through the Games Group. He can't always make it there because of family obligations, but when he can make it, he adds a lot to the game. Truth to tell, I don't know everything about him, meaning I just haven't heard his story completely... yet.

Brett (or "Bear" as most people call him or "Beauregard" when we play ACW) has an interesting back story, which I am sworn to silence about. He lives in London, but has some mobility issues because of past injuries. He always makes the games interesting. He used to be torn between our historicals and another part of the group that did RPGs. (That's role-playing, not grenades!) Since that other part has found anther venue that doesn't permit Bear to be comfortable, he hangs with us and plays whatever we play. He's collecting a batch of 25mm ACW figures (Confederates, of course) and also 25mm WWII Wehrmacht. I'm contracted to do his painting for him and I've also done some 15mm WWII figs for Bear. Part of Bear's past is the Canadian Army where he drove various APCs.

Kevin has a very wide interest in gaming, everything from Historical table-top games to auto racing games to RPGs to micro-armour to outer space games, which he got me into. (Thanks, Kev!) Kevin is a single father with two really great kids. He's also a member of the King's Company of Historical Reenactors/17th US Infantry for the War of 1812. He served for a time in the Canadian Army in a communications unit, and has done a lot of creative jobs. He loves the technical aspects of theatre and media and appears to be very good at what he does. He's the coordinator/leader/name-at-the-top-of-the-list/grand poobah of the Hamilton Road Gaming Group and might be the longest serving member. He's also a blogger. (He's older than he looks! Well preserved is he!)

Here I take my life in my hands.... My wife, Beth is member of the Group and a blood-thirsty opponent she is, too! We've been married going on 30 years now. She started as a board gamer in the Avalon Hill/S&T sense and became a table top gamer when we married. She has a great interest in Cossacks, worked for many years as a travel agent, and has a degree in Medieval History from Muhlenberg College in the US. She has her own Arthurian-British 25mm army and a Kislivite Warmaster army in 10mm. Now, whatever photo I include, she'll dislike so I must "gird up my loins" and throw some in,

Us as War of 1812 reenactors

Our daughter, Katie is a member of the group as well. She doesn't always come out to game, but when she does, she usually beats me. She's almost as blood-thirsty as her mother. She has a Warmaster High Elf army but plays a mean tank commander.

Katie as "Yellow Jacket" with our reenacting group.
The baby is a friend's whom she is kidnapping as a good Lenape warrior might.

Rob is our son and he games with us when he has a chance. He lives in London now and works as a chef in a local restaurant. He works very hard. He plays almost anything, but has troops for WWII Canada and the USSR as well as US Paratroops, a Greek Hoplite army, and a Warhammer Wood Elf army, which he amazed people with at a local tournament. They thought the Woodies would be a push-over; they thought wrong.

Playing WWII tanks in War of 1812 gear... Sure! Why not?

Then there's me. If you've been reading this blog, you know what I look like.

Still age and care has taken their toll.

Okay, seriously now. This is my dear wife and I at a friend's wedding a few summers back.

There's the gang. My apologies if I've left anything important out.

Some days, you get the bear...

This past Saturday, we followed Martin's lead and played a "modern era" micro-armour game using the Cold War Commander rules. He has a very interesting collection of micro-armour piece, mostly modern, but Israeli and British. Since these two nations are not historical enemies, the actual sides were "the Empire of Albion" and the "Covenant of the Twelve Tribes" meeting on the field of battle in some mythical desert area. Both sides fielded about a brigade-strength set - two armoured battalions, two armoured infantry battalions, a helicopter-borne battalion, and a flight of helicopter gunships, with two batteries of off-board artillery. Bear and I ran the Twelve tribes while Kevin and Derek ran the Albioners. Martin served as games-master and Andy advised both sides.

Kevin and Derek won the initiative and had us deploy a battalion first, after which we took turns. The field was really, really flat with a small hill village surrounded by barbed wire at the southern end of the table and a village surrounded by a law wall to the north.

The village to the north - Martin privately briefed us that we were looking for an artifact of great power hidden in one of the two built-up areas. Not having any visible kohanim with us, I suppose we'd have to be careful. (Most of the terrain was from my collection of... stuff.)

The big-time village. The barbed wire areas were done up years ago for GW's Space Marine/ Epic games.

The same hill village with the Albion-ish force moving in - a mechanised/armoured infantry battalion.

There were some white yarn pieces laid on the table. If your unit touched the yarn, it was considered to be in a wadi and was "hull-down." This was to serve Derek well.
Bear and I split our forces - one armoured and one infantry battalion each, with Bear taking the Cobra gunships and myself taking the helicopter-borne paratroopers. On the other side, Kevin took the two infantry battalion and the Apache gunships while Derek ran the two armoured battalions. Kevin headed for the hill town with both battalions which included some Javelin SAMs and some anti-armour rockets. Derek came at me with his Challenger tanks. Bear deployed his Merkava tanks to the centre with his infantry to the outside. I sent my tanks "up the middle" and my infantry to the small village. For about two turns, we manoeuvred and finally came to grips. Derek used the wadis to good effect as he advanced to engage my troops. I found that the Merkavas could stand up to a lot as he and I exchanged fire.

Bear's M113 "Zeldas" with the battalion command an M901 track with TOW gun.

One of Kevin's battalions - Warrior APCs and some scout and support equipment.

Kevin's Apache gunships looking belligerent.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch - Kevin's rolling stock moves into the town.

Derek's Challenger MBTs hull-down in the wadi.

What was left of Bear's infantry battalion after taking fire from the Challengers, over two turns. Zelda goes boom.

I called in an air strike with F18s on Derek's one battalion. I allowed a wide spread on the run; a narrow spread hits one vehicle with double attacks, but I wanted to suppress or pin as much as I could. I didn't get them all but I got enough to make it worthwhile. The battalions were made up of Challengers and Scorpions for recce and support, whereas my armoured battalions were all Merkavas. My infantry all got into the village and commenced the search for the lost Ark... I mean, "the special artifact." (Get it? <poke-poke>)

Well, Bear took a lot of casualties, especially from a pop-up attack from the Apaches and his infantry broke under the whithering fire. His armour took some casualties as well. My armour held its own against Derek's tanks. He had to split his fire between our two battalions. His Scorpions really could not handle that volume of fire and brewed up fast. Lighter armour and all that. Bear and I sent two jet sorties against the town held by Kevin, both with napalm. Here the game broke down. The rules make napalm really brutally deadly, which did not seem realistic to some of the guys. It destroyed units in the open and in houses as well as vehicles. Martin had to re-read the rules and discovered that he hadn't adjudicated the air strike correctly, so some damage was taken back, but not all. To his defence, he hadn't read the rules for about 2 years and had only given them a cursory reading recently. At this point, the game went off the rails as Bear brought his Cobras in to attack Derek's tanks, then to strafe the town, and then engage the Apaches air-to-air. Since Cold War Commander uses Warmaster's command set-up, a player can move a unit many times in one turn, until his command rolls fail. This can be aggravating or exhilarating, depending if you're on the receiving end or on the delivering end. In any event, the helicopter gunships did a dog-fight which left both pretty cut up. Kevin brought in his Chinook-borne paras to reinforce the town and provide some more AA cover since they had some man-packed AAGMs.

One of my Merkavas with a wound (the white washer) and a suppression marker (the blow-up splash,)

Kevin's Apaches, betting ready to pop up and sling missiles at Bear's infantry.

A Merkava battalion with only two platoons and the HQ left. The blow-ups indicate lost stands.

After slashing up Derek's tanks, Bear's Cobras head for the town. The wadis don't effect them.

The Cobras engage the Apaches in a deadly duel.

 We hit curfew shortly after and had to wrap up.
I don't collect micro-armour so I enjoyed playing the game and handling the little tiny tanks. Martin deserves credit for painting those vehicles and men so well. The rules, however, need something to be desired. I'm thinking that the weaponry of modern warfare is SO varied and complex that it might be tough to game without a computer and an accountant. What certain weapon systems and bomb-loads can do is very subjective and open to interpretation or argument. (Except for tactical nuclear weapons which is best simulated by dribbling a basketball on the table for five minutes.) Maybe it's just not "my cup of tea" as they say. My wife believes gaming beyond 1815 (or maybe 1865) is worthless since it is no longer an "honourable" endeavor. I'm not quite so tied up but I will say the technology makes gaming the modern period tough to do. Maybe I'll try it again. Maybe...

Meanwhile, more photos. (I took all the pictures this time, with my wife's good camera.)

Israeli Merkavas with some attched troops.

Israeli Blackhawk helicopeter, which went unused the entire game. I usually end up dropping the airbourne into harm's way and getting them destroyed.

British Chinook helicopters - heavy lifters, carrying two stands of infantry.
However if one is shot down, you lose two stands of infantry.

British Apache helicopter gunships

The British Challenger MBT - rather nicely detailed in my opinion, especially for a model the size of your thumbnail.

British Warrior APCs

Just an interesting vista

My armoured infantry with M113 Zeldas and a mortar carrier as they search the village.

Next week will be the Group Christmas Party with warmed cider, hot chocolate, cookies, and the "traditional" Wings of War game which will include Snoopy and the Red Baron as well as Santa's sleigh. This year we add a big bomber to try it out. If you are in the neighbourhood of London, Ontario, on the south side of the city, you are welcome to stop in for a cookie, a nip of cider or chocolate, and a quick flight in a SPAD or a Fokker or a Sopwith. (RSM Mark and the Mad Padre, I'm looking at you!) We're holding this party on the 13th because Martin is making his way to the family homestead up near the permafrost. The week after will be a bigger surprise.

From previous year's Christmas Party.

Black Powder and the War Between the States

I've been itching to try Black Powder for the American Civil War. (That's what I call it; if you personally use another term for that dust-up, feel free to do so... somewhere else. I'm writin' here.) Last Saturday at the Hamilton Road Games Group, I got my chance. I laid out terrain with the help of Martin and Andy and those two worthies, as well as Derek and Bear and later Kevin, took the field. Andy and Bear (or I should say Beauregard) generaled the Confederacy while Derek and Martin commanded the Federal forces. Kevin came in a bit later and Andy graciously gave him his seat. I served as gamesmaster.

The forces consisted of two infantry brigades, each of 4-5 regiments and two cannon, and a cavalry regiment each. Each side had two brigadiers and one medium tall general as over-all commander.

(All photos are by Andy or myself with my dinky little pocket camera, since I forgot my wife's nice camera.)

An homage to my friend, Irwin back in Pennsylvania, who did ACW reenacting with a signals unit.
This is actually a pretty cool little vignette.

Part of Andy's brigade advances -  a brass Napoleon and a rifled cannon, Wheat's 1st Louisiana Special Battalion (Louisiana Tigers) and the 7th Georgia. (Old Glory 15mm artillery and crew, Minifigs infantry)

 

More of Andy/Kevin's Brigade - the 1st Maryland and a Virginia regiment.
The white yarn denotes the edge of the forested area.

Andy and Beauregard got the initiative and advanced first. Andy dismounted his cavalry and walked the horses through the woods. This move might not have been rules "Kosher" but it made a lot of sense. The eight Confederate regiments were all of a large size. I tend to make the Rebs in big units since their SOP was to provide replacement and reinforcements to the regiments. The Union recruited new units in order to provide more political placements which led to veteran regiments dwindling away without replacements while new, green units were thrown into the battle with untried commanders. Only the state of Wisconsin and the US Federal regiments went against this tide. Both sides advanced toward each other, although Beauregard's troops - Texans and Mississippians - refused orders at least once. (That's how Black Powder works; command can be infuriating!)

Another view of Andy/Kevin's brigade. You can see the flags of Beauregard's Texans in the background.

Derek's troops - Michiganders and the Irish Brigade (formed into one eight-stand regiment rather than 4 two-stand regiments) storm across the creek. The Irish were armed with smoothbores and were subject to the "Ferocious Charge" rule.

At one point, the Tigers did not receive an order, and the Virginians passed through them.

Derek's troops again, now deployed into line. The 39th New York (the Garibaldi Guard) and a regiment of Federal Regulars are in the foreground with the Irish and the Michigan boys just beyond.

The Union line of battle approaches the enemy. Martin's Zouave brigade decided to to through the woods on the far side of the battlefield. (Troops by Minifigs, Falcon, Old Glory, and Essex)

Derek's artillery  (More Old Glory 15's)

A lot of fire from both muskets and artillery was exchanged. Derek deployed his cavalry on his right along with two stands of Berdan's Sharpshooters. (Each Union brigade had two stands as small units.) They dismounted and passed through a woods to cross the road and take up a defencive position on a small farm.

Derek's unit of Berdan's in the woods to his front.

Derek's dismounted cavalry move into the farmed area. The command and guidon remained mounted because I hadn't painted enough dismounted cavalry!

The Virginian Cavalry infiltrate the woods.

Andy/Kevin's Virginia cavalry at the edge of the woods. They had attacked the dismounted Federals in the farm yard and were thrown back. The Bluecoats were behind a stone wall.

Here they are, taking up their defencive positions around the farm yard.

Meanwhile, on the other flank, Martin had broken his troops into skirmish order to get them into the woods. This was to cause some rules consternation later but at this point they were exchanging fire with the Texans and began to take casualties from the Rebel artillery. As it was they stayed in the woods, and held a firefight when the Texans came up to the edge of the woods and began to volley against them.

In the centre, things began to heat up as the Louisiana Tiger (Properly pronounced "Loozy-ana" as Beauregard reminded me. I'm just a silly Yankee anyway.) prepare to charge the Irish Brigade. The Gaels took it hard and were destroyed. The Garibaldi Guard exchanged a lot of fire with the Virginians, who also took a pounding from the Federal artillery.

Martin gestures mystically over the woods battle. You can see Wallace's Zouaves and the Philadelphia Fire Zouaves in the woods as well as the two stands of the Sharpshooters. The 146th NY Zouaves were there but were cut up in a firefight with the Mississippi regiment and left the field.

A better non-mystical view. Wallace's are Essex figures, Berdan's are Old Glory, and the Fire Zouaves are Minifigs.

Andy/Kevin's artillery and brigadier. Kevin always has the right frame of mind for ACW Black Powder. I quote: "The Fust Mary-land will chaage the enemy with the bayonet and carry the position, Suh!" At one point, he began to quote verbatim the inspiring speech to the Virginians at Pickett's Charge from the movie, Gettysburg. We beat him senseless with sandwich rolls and chocolate bars. 

A close-up of the brigadier and the artillery over the bayonet of the 1st Maryland. (Both are Old Glory)
The Rebel command is in the background.

As time rolled on, we saw that the woods on the Union right was going to give way but slowly. The farm and the woods on the Union right was solidly in the hands of Derek's cavalry with one regiment of infantry coming to their aid. In the centre, the Irish brigade had broken and left the field. The other Union regiments were smaller but in decent shape. It really was a toss-up. Since my goal was to actually try an ACW battle using Black Powder, it was a success. It was a hard-fought battle but I can't say who was the actually winner.
The rules work well for the ACW. What was lacking has to be laid to my fault. Next time, I need to have a roster saying which units are veteran, "normal", or green, with some extra things like sharpshooters, ferocious charge, and skirmish specialists. Walking the horses trough the the wood worked without unbalancing things. As I said, I don't know if it is entirely "Kosher" according to the rules, but it makes sense and it works. Since my troops are mounted 4 to a base, breaking an entire unit into skirmish is a problem. (I'm NOT rebasing!) It gives the skirmishing unit a great advantage, effectively doubling the number of men firing in one space. Cutting the number of firing troops might be the way to go. I'm going to paint skirmish stands up, but that takes time and it is Advent...
We'll do this again, bet on it. I like how clean the Black Powder rules are and how flexible. They even had the right "feel" for the ACW in my opinion. We may have made the mistake of going longways on the table which made us take a long time to get to grips.
Live and learn.