My son is part of the community center team, planning events to see what will work out.
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poster for the event |
I'm planning to have a little time-lapse and likely some photos from the event, appearing here sometime afterwards.
An exposition of the Hobby of TableTop gaming.
With commentary, notes and other items connected to this hobby.
Opportunity to get the Napoleonic miniatures on the table came a week ago, it has taken time to process the video and photos into this new game time-lapse.
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my tabletop deployment zone marker for French forces |
I had a mind to try out more from the book series by Grant and Asquith "Scenarios For All Ages", so I decided to let by d12 have a go at where to start ... obviously I rolled a "1" - must start at the beginning!
Neat part about this scenario is that it also had basic instructions for running the game solo!
Once again I am doing this mostly as a video posting, as there are no other players to make detailed reporting to or about this event.
It was good to get the Napoleonic troops out on the new game mat, with their own new fur bases and get the whole set documented in a game this new way.
a panoramic photo from the end of turn 3 |
These panoramic photos are the type I used to do with other software and stitching them together by manual processing, now my iPhone does it all quickly. I think I may do more of them in future games.
The scenario has the Bavarians holding a hill line, they must not permit 2 or more combat effective units from passing beyond the hill-line. The time limit is based on the number of turns for the Russian line infantry to march from one side of the board to the other, then add 1/2; this worked out to nine (9) turns.
Fast, bold action was called for the Russians (fast is not something they are known for), and some luck from a few failed Bavarian defense rolls could make it possible to get more than 1 unit across in time.
The die rolls for the Bavarians were amazing, they killed the leading Russian skirmishers in the first encounter.
From there things bogged down, though the Russians came within one turn of making it happen all the same. Good scenario design - showcasing asymmetrical forces and doing a job with what is at hand.
another panorama showing the end of game positions |
I also got a photo of one of my 'wrecked batteries', that was not used in the video.
the wrecked battery marker |
Computer work station has moved upstairs as the temperatures have definitely gone lower overnight and I do not wish to freeze my paints.
More study coming this month and likely a start on the special fantasy commission, expect photos.
Found the time to get the ECW collection out onto the tabletop.
Also the new red and blue command tags and commander ID sabot were used, along with some all new teddy bear fur bases.
Combine that with a time-lapse camera and some clip-2-comic images and I had a great little game and show on the go.
I put together two asymmetrical forces: Royalist had 6 gallopers and 5 pike & shot with two cannon, while the Parliament had 4 trotters and 7 pike & shot with two cannon and two field pieces.
I then used my random terrain cards to set up the tabletop battlefield and then started the time-lapse camera.
I decided to go with mostly video for this posting as everything came together so nicely.
Here are a few stills that I did not use in the video
from deployment, the KING |
early in the action, the right wing of Parliament |
showing off most of the Royalist foot in the village along with the two 'pieces' firing |
wider view of the Royalist right wing at deployment |
Parliament center firing in early action on the day |
Royalist horse push on the flank, yet cannot muster up the courage to charge (read three failed charge morale rolls) |
a closer view of those horse note the 3 of spades tag I put my 'deck of cards' system to use this game |
with these very cards here is the end of game as the KING for the Royalists must decide to move or not (read the fight does not go well, losing 4-1 at that point) |
lights are all repaired in my display case |
including a close-up of some of the Napoleonic large models and my own 28mm Bonaparte |
Next up will be some new 'frosthaven' models that I have a commission to paint.
Along with the Shiloh Confederates, likely a move upstairs to painting spaces that are warmer as the weather shifts here on the wet coast of British Columbia.
My eldest son has always had a keen interest in a number of board games, this one he's had for a while and got some expansions of - including a set of 3d markers.
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game at setup |
It has a set of general rules, then there are the 'contracts' that are the cards that drive the action and form some of the 'victory' conditions.
Mostly non-competitive, other than a few cards that 'attack' and you will pay with loss of victory points.
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game end |
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there was a 'nuke' dropped on Mars - to increase the temperature - |
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there were four players, I was tied for 4th |
I have taken some time to take advantage of the past few sunny days to get a new layering on my old table cloth covering.
the last of the grass tufts were still setting |
the darker 'chocolate' cloth that I will use with allied (Austrians, Russians or British) forces |
freshly done for my French bases |
Now they get on the table |
while I was re-sorting the magnets and minis I lost track of a couple of the bases when I set them aside on the tablecloth |
the rough-and-tumble look is what I was after |
they do not look anything like the old green grass paper ones |
from behind it is still easy to ID the units |
Summer is looking to end quietly here, only some little showers so far.
A cavalry match was established at Bruceville by the fictional 1863 Campaign game that we set up over the summer.
No one had enough cavalry to game this out - even at 1/3 scale with all of our cavalry combined.
So I decided to put my Fast Play Grande Armee tools to work, as this was an all horse match-up with some artillery supports. All the sorts of things that existed in the Napoleonic era ... though the Union horse would have carbines - so I gave them a heavy cavalry unit to represent the extra firepower this might represent on the field.
This meant that the French would be representing Union troops and I chose Russians (because they were ready) to fill in as the Confederates.
Union job: keep the Confederates off the two roads going south across the Monocacy River.
Confederates: get any unbroken (more than 1 strength) brigades down either the road to Liberty (east) or Frederick City (west) so as to disrupt Union ability to interfere with Confederate movements towards the east, either Baltimore or Washington.
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the horse were fighting over Bruceville just as the foot were tangling at Utica Mills |
Custer was granted command of the 'heavies' and had the job to flank far right.
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battlefield overview (the tray holding Confederates were arriving from the road to the north - left of image) |
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Union held in readiness to see what the Rebs were bringing |
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there were more Union cavalry coming from Liberty to the south east, they would not arrive before noon though |
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Custer is in command of the Cuirassier, seen here in the distance to the left |
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tale of the Confederate battle ... they could not get the bigger numbers needed in combat die rolls |
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this caused many more losses to the Confederates |
as usual an all cavalry battle was going to be a swirling mass of horsemen with the decision coming fast
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Custer, top center, failed to attack - TWICE! |
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this allowed Confederate horsemen a clear shot at a Union battery group |
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Pleasanton was just too far away to effect anything much of a personal nature on the field |
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so the Union Division commanders were needed to keep the action 'in-the-face' of the Confederates |
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1/3 of the Union guns were run over by Confederate horse |
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a lull came over the field just before 11 am |
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both sides had pulled back after an hour of furious action |
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in the midst of recovering some casualties - both sides failed their break point rolls, though the Confederates failed their roll by more |
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remaining Union forces about 2/3rds strength that they started with |
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Confederate survivors, they had been mauled though all artillery survived, the horse were at less than half strength they started with |
Bruceville 1863 game timelapse
Now we know what all the situation of the 3rd of July will be ...
There is a small opening to the east, certainly north is open, west of course will achieve little.
South may be only an option if Longstreet can hold it open for two more days ...
Wither will General Lee and the remains of the Army of Northern Virginia go?