ACW 15mm project Confederate Cavalry for a Shenandoah Valley Campaign

 A side diversion, since there was very little Confederate Cavalry at Gettysburg, none at Shiloh and only a token force at Bull Run, I would need to get some grey pony men done up for a proposed Shenandoah Valley campaign.

The pressure came to get this done sooner, rather than later, from Martin's little campaign.  Then more when I was presented with a copy of the Valour and Fortitude rules, with ACW army lists and details.

It was always in the plan ... now moved up!

the dismounted sections of the cavalry force

incentive from having a copy of V&F now

bare metal all ready to base coat

all base coated

a dark 'underlayer' of color is then applied

the highlights underlayer

basic 'color' undercoat

INKS!

the exact brush used for all painting done
to this point - I think I have used this same
brush for the last three sets of minis
Yes - the paint just needs to get on
accuracy in these early stages means nothing
so just go fast!

highlights and main colours done

metallic layer and mounted to movement bases
or sabot

fully flocked

my basic flocking set up

All done the 'little' Confederate Cavalry diversion ... now I will be able to playtest the rules and see what I might be able to bring to the Shenandoah Valley Campaign (or run one of my own in the future).

ACW 15mm Project: more Gettysburg Confederates

 the 15mm project continues, this time with a division of Confederates and more artillery

a distant shot of one of the finished batteries

bare metal

black base coat

light 'under-highlight'
damp brush layer

undercoat color layer

some of the inks I use
in this case the ones on this project

ink layer done

mid-tones colors

highlights colors

mounted to base stands

I mix some brown and black acrylic paint
in with this texture medium and water
to attach my flocking materials to the bases

all flocked

a selection of the paints used on these minis

La manoeuver sur les derrieres - active map

 

map from Dr D. Chandler

This strategy, implemented dozens of times by Napoleonic armies, forms the basis for many 'operational depth' attack plans.  From the WWI original German attack to the 'cauldron' that was the focus point of bewegungskrieg plans used in WWII and the Operation Desert Storm used in Iraq in 1991.

I have taken a bit of time to generate a little video exploring the basic aspects of this stratagem.

How have you incorporated such a strategy into your games?

A little WH40K diversion

 My middle son wanted to do a 40K game, so we set it up fast on Saturday.

Here is the After Action Report, short and sweet.

the Grey Knights belong to my eldest
and it was my middle son that wanted to run them

my eldest has done some great 'wrecks' from
dollar store toy tanks
that we used as battlefield 'debris'
for this game

I was given this force of mechanoids
(I think they are called)
to command

While middle-son took on these
Grey Knights

even done in 'cartoon' mode this terrain piece looked great

Once again, there's a time-lapse of
this battle, with a few still shots put in
to make it interesting.

Grey Knight were the victors
and this photo worked so well
in many different runs of the
clip2comic that I wanted to share more

Have a great summer!

SHAKO II battle, Scenario #4: HOLDING ACTION

 I had not played on the tabletop for more than a month, since our UK trip and the opportunity to do a face-to-face with Martin Knight in Birmingham.

My youngest son was willing to take on a game, so I chose one from the Programmed Wargames Scenarios by Charles Stewart Grant, number 4: HOLDING ACTION.

We set the Russians as the blue force defenders and and a mix of French and Italio-Bavarians as the red force attackers.  Randomly we ended up with the 'middle' map for setting up on.

the Russian defenders had the two hills
with the road between them and the village

this little woods, out from the village,
would turn out to
be pivotal for both sides

initial deployment was concealed
from the attacking French player
(until visual, artillery fire or 18" command range)

French main body and right wing
following the advance guard

by turn three all forces were revealed

French advance guard and right wing columns

main body and left wing
(led by ADC)

these Russian Jagers would win the day
(though their loss eventually would prove
to be too many casualties for a victory)

Russian command had chosen a location
just a bit out of range of their 'second inspection'

meaning it took four turns to get a message
to that commander to start his attack against
the advancing French

Russians on the hill were outflanked
and outnumbered

French command held back, waiting to see if
the main body could break the hill fast enough

a quick strike by Russian dragoons managed
to eliminate 1/2 of a French advance guard
and push back the supporting French Dragoons

while not 'swept away' the Russian left wing
was going to retreat by turn 8

French artillery was now fully supported
and ready to blast out the village

by turn 8 the guns were 1/2 setup

the Russian second inspection was going
to have to cover the final retreat

the Russian first inspection had failed a morale
test and lost all of its artillery

Once again I had my 'second iPhone' on hand and doing
a time-lapse of the battlefield
here again presented with some music and a few notes

I wish everyone some game-filled summer months.