Details matter: arrival of reenforcements

The Napoleon's Battles Leipzig scenario includes a detailed list of arrival troops, times and locations.

defining the arrivals for the Leipzig game

I have copied that list and now added a 'letter' designation for each of them, with the intention of having that same letter designation on a tag next to the troops to be deployed and use that same letter on a control board and have my wooden letters be used on the tabletop.

   

the 'flat' letter "W" seen at the cross-roads here

I have a full set of these little letter stars, that I have used a few times on the tabletop.  For such a busy game anything that simplifies the organizing process will be of value.

the matching "W" in the upright version
seen here with the "Z" and "Y"

 

They have not had a lot of uses on the tabletop, yet, so it will be a good run this time around with so many troops and players.

Leipzig toolkit

 I am making further use of the metal pin & cubes stands I did up for the ACW games.

 

I was always planning on them having more uses, this is as good a time as any to put them on the tabletop.

 

This time around they will be used as location names and point values as well as control markers for the locations in the coming Leipzig game.

 

It is very likely that at least one of my 15mm buildings will also get out on the tabletop this time around.

Basing for Napoleon's Battles

 Just a little primer on the basing needs for 15mm Napoleonic soldiers when setting up for Napoleon's Battles:

the core of any army would be Infantry

Cavalry are the 'tip of the spear'

the man-killer, artillery

This is to prepare for the coming Leipzig game, on 15,16, 17, 2026.

Prelude to Leipzig

    Napoleon soon realized that his bluff had been called.  Far from driving the enemy apart and defeating him in detail, it now behooved the French Emperor to move every available man to Leipzig with all speed to forestall the arrival of two large enemy army groups from opposite directions.  From this moment Napoleon was without any doubt compelled to adapt a complete strategic defensive and to curtail even his tactical offensives.  As early as the 12th  he had sent Marmont with the VIth Corps toward Taucha near Leipzig in readiness to sustain Murat, who was still fighting south of the city; the Guard would be hard on his heels.  "All my army will be putting itself in motion; all of it will have arrived [near Leipzig] by morning of the 14th, and I shall be able to fight the enemy with 200,000 men."

  At three in the morning of the 14th , Berthier received his master's definitive orders for a general concentration on Leipzig.  Four hours later, Napoleon was writing Macdonald: "My Cousin, I hope the you will arrive here [Duben] in good time today.  It is necessary to cross the river at once.  There can be no doubt that during tomorrow - the 15th - we shall  be attacked by the Army of Bohemia and the Army of Silesia.  March with all haste, therefore, and if you hear a cannonade make for the sound of the guns.  The Army of Silesia is debouching by way of Halle and Zorbig."  This letter reveals that Napoleon had abandoned almost all hope of keeping his two major adversaries apart.  

 

However, the indications were that Bernadotte was still dragging his heels well to the rear of Blucher - although regrettably the Crown Prince had not, after all, fallen back over the Elbe - and the Emperor still hoped that his concentrated army would prove strong enough to defeat Schwarzenberg before Blucher could make his counterbalancing presence fully felt.

   ~ The Campaigns of Napoleon, Dr. David Chandler, 1966, pp. 919-922

 

The Battle of Nations
 is scheduled for May 15, 16, & 17, 2026

Nanaimo, BC, Canada 
There will be an After Action Report (AAR) here
at Murdock'S MarauderS 

more NEW game books (okay new to me)

 a fast trip to Vancouver recently allowed me the time to pick up two rules books I had meant to acquire for a while now, and also a new version of one I have had the older one of for many decades

first the new one:

version 3.0 from 2014

 

I have been doing DBA since the early 1990s, introduced to it by gamers in Winnipeg and Minnesota.

I have had versions 1.1, 2.1 and now 3.0.  Giving the quick glance at it, I think I will need to make a new measuring 'fork', otherwise all my minis will still work with the system - neat part is that DBMM stuff is also covered in this rules set (it looks like - I haven't read it all the way yet).

 

hardback Brigade Fire & Fury

 I have been playing this rules set, using others books most of the time and have been busy building my own game set of the full armies for Bull Run 1861 and Shiloh 1862; now started on the battle of Gettysburg 1863 armies, with the aim of having a full campaign set for 1863 (with all of the cavalry for both sides) and the intent to use games like Bobby Lee and Sam Grant for the strategic setup, then transition to an operational system (of my own devising), then to the tabletop - most likely with BF&F, thus the need to finally have my own copy.

softcover P&S

While "Black Powder" might have worked out as well, I chose to pick up Pike and Shotte, as Rob has been using these rules for many of the English Civil War games that we have run and many of the minis I have are from the Warlords set, it was time to have the rules set to go with them all.

Leipzig Game approaches!

 At long last the dates for a multi-player Leipzig game have been set, May 15,16,17 (a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday affair)

Looks like at least 6 players per side (possibly more).

Some of my 15mm buildings will take part on the tabletop, as will my Napoleon's Battles rules set, as it is always good to have many copies on hand.

my Shako & Baton cards

 

I designed some "Shako & Baton" cards for use in the many 200th anniversary games played from 2006-2015 and now they will get a fresh run, as discussion about the need for 'free roll' controls began.

I have also suggested possible other cards, and maybe have some extra free rolls in a mix of cards to be drawn each turn?  Dunno there's a discussion to be had about it all.

more of the cards options

I have also put forward the use of a chess clock in order to introduce a time limit to the game activity.

The intention is to set a 'total time' for game actions/decisions/movement etc for each side and then stick to it as a possible game loosing element - for those who take too long to make decisions and move the minis ought to have something to get them going on with the action (even if it is a poor decision or other problem with it - just make a decision!) since we will only have so much time to run the game and we would really like to have the action happen.

the chess clock I have had since 2007 (?) 
will get another outing on the tabletop

The rules for Napoleon's Battles really do lend themselves well to a clock timer, since the overall game time has a limit, the turns have a limit and there needs to be something to help 'push' the slower players to keep the game action moving.

It might only account for a part of the victory conditions, yet I see it as vital to the simulation since real commanders would have less time to make the decisions (and less information often) than we do at the games table.  

The use of the time limit will also encourage everyone to stay focused on the game at hand since many other players (myself included) will be traveling some distances and taking hotel rooms in this multi-day event!

Paperwork

 re-setting games activities from many decades is no straight forward task

I have been involved in the organization of my own little table group and a number of convention organizations from the Comox valley to Halifax and many places and sizes in-between

 I stumbled upon this character sheet today in the process of re-packing and preparing to move on items and it reminded me of the blog today

the TOON character sheet

 I did some TOON games back in the 1990s and ran a few at convention events, something quick and silly to find friends with active imaginations.

The boys did some TOON games at the library, in the 2010s, now I have moved on the paperwork and only have the main rule-book (I think) and plan to get this heavier weight paper sheet included with whatever remains of the game set.

Parts FOUND!

 

wiping the brows ...

The video from the Eylau 2007 game (with the blowing snows effects!) has been found!

More images taken at the game from other players have also been sourced!

I shall finally be able to tell the full tale of that epic show effort.

Also:  More images from the Auerstadt 2006 game have also been sourced (the image above) is from that game, and I am now planning to make use of these images in a conversation regarding staging such game actions.

More to come.

image here captures two players who now
are gaming in our memories only

A Salute reminder. From 2017

 Got a little video reminder about the 2017 Salute event.

There's a general plan afoot to attend the 2026 version, I am not in a position to able to attend this time around.

Fascination with large round numbers: 1 million views & 20 years

 We have this strange fascination with large round numbers, I share it with my fellows I will not try to hide it.

Today this blog crossed the 1 million views threshold!

in my blog control panel as of noon PDT March 31, 2026

I'm also planning on some summary posts regarding things I found interesting in the past 20 years of blogging here, as the blog turns 20 in September 2026.

 

like a time capsule ...

 

I have found some lost video of the tabletop game that won an award back when I was just starting to chronicle my tabletop activity.  I have also been reliably informed that another player in that game has a load of photos that he took during the action.  

Now if I can just source some way to put this video into digital format so I can edit it into something memorable that I can share on the blog here ...

 

Fun finds - the joys of re-sorting a collection:: Battlestar Galactica Pyramid Game

 While re-sorting the many items I have, this one came to light in another forum and I decided to give it a feature here.

I have this 55 card set from a convention purchase sometime in the early 1990s, around the same time I came across the "L" cubit replica.

Sometime in the mid-1990s I learned how to make my own RTV molds and made a mold of that cubit.  

oh so many cubits now!

Since the early 2000s I found the other 'curved' symbol cubit at an expo in Victoria.

giving an impression of scale and color match
my rings are gold

After that event I made another better mold of both replicas (one was metal the other resin) and then turned out enough cubits to be able to play a reasonable 'game' of Pyramid.  I recall at least once playing for jelly beans in the later 1990s, then at least two runs of the game with the new cubits.

These cubits got a fresh coat of paint about two years (yharen) ago, though mostly poker with Jeff's old clay chips has been played.   

 

maybe it is time for a game?

Continuing commercial impact

 Again a topic found me today. 

I have many of these pulp figures by Bob Murch and since I live in British Columbia there’s no tariff nonsense going on. 

I can only imagine the interruptions of projects for both producers and the hobby users. 

Nonsense like these tariffs are just going to push more away from any of the hobby activities and that hurts everyone. 

Building spaces, starting new

 Having the opportunity to re-think my painting and game set up spaces I have started with what already exists and adding to it what I have with flexibility being the over-arching thinking.

the current painting rack

When I was forced to use the dining table as my computer desk and painting space I re-discovered the need for a stable drying space for the minis while they were in-between layers and before completion.

The discovery of a metal rack that we already had worked out well.

The new desk (formerly of my son) will work well as the desk and painting space, though the space under the desk was a few inches shorter than the metal rack poles.  Four cuts with a rotary cutter later, and now the rack fits under the desk and does not eat up more floor space (that will be needed for the coming table)

Table designs are continuing to marinate, as my thoughts regarding the surface and materials keep being pulled around by my research.  Ultimately I may need to use the dining room table for a game surface one last time, though it becomes a great 'double-blind' game space set up for the future.

Along with the table is lighting issues and the need for some flexible seating options, so there are more choices to be made yet.

A throwback post: Star Trek

 In the process of seeking the HotT minis, I came across some left overs from Role-Playing Star Trek and some Trek related Pulp miniatures.

There are others, the full crew, that has been featured in other posts on the blog, these are the 'background' or extras minis.

a command Ensign

the whole grouping

the little phasers, tricorders and communicators
are items I made for the Star Trek role-playing
we did in the early 2000s

the items worked well

though too big for the 25mm minis, they could still
be used as objective markers

everything seen from above

Finding more along the way of sorting out so much, still no new work done on anything hobby related other than the table planning, which has taken a different analysis turn ... budget issues coming on.

At least I got in a board game, Cashflow, with my youngest son while he was visiting last week.

As expected, it looks like there will be little games action actually happening, since the blast of winter snows has eaten up any slack.

The rumor of a Leipzig game continues, maybe in May?

A throwback post: 10mm Hordes of the Things

 During part of the moving in process, we had a telecom worker here to fix up our LAN connections.

He saw the many Napoleonic and English Civil War minis and asked, 

  "If you were to do a battle of the five armies, could you do it?"

I spent a moment thinking about this and answered, yes, just not with the 25mm historical minis.

A recent discussion about Warmaster minis has brought back to the forefront the Hordes of the Things rules.  Along with De Bellis Antiquitatis (DBA) rules by WRG, Hordes of the Things (HotT) formed a core of my early miniatures gaming efforts.  Indeed I had a full six nations 'Rise of Rome' campaign set based on the six player system from DBA.  The discussion centered around using Warmaster system, which I did not buy the rules; I did buy many army box sets and loads of extras (like dragons) when Warmaster was being dumped on clearance by a local game shop in the early 2000s, I bought new at 70-90% off retail cost.

I had some vague plans to do up some Tolkien-esque armies, so the battle of the five armies would be in the realm of possibility.

Many of the army boxes are still 'on stand by' as the push to do up lots more armies faded by 2005, as my decision to go with Napoleonics and the 200th anniversary of the historical battles had been made.

So here now I shall share the finish HotT forces that I have still on hand:

 

with the Undead force, I did up a 25mm
skeleton as a giant version for the 15mm scale

 In no particular order:

A skeleton, or undead, force

complete with a necromancer

 

Five minis on a stand shows the 'horde' units that can be brought back on the table after being 'destroyed' by combat ... seemed perfect for shambling skeletons.

 

goblin force next - this is the 'camp guard'

scythed chariots

blades and a general
the camp is in the background
all the 'stones' are slate pieces from
a fireplace I built from recovered Italian
slate

wolf riders

a magic-user - front
TOAD - rear
when a magic-user fails the spell check
they become a toad 

the whole force

I had encountered a plastic measuring tool
that was commercially made
so I re-did the same general design
the points are 2" apart

the Ice Elves
(a fantasy creation in my own world)

flaming damage from an Ice Elf wizard

chariots
the crystals were to be part of a camp

spears and shooters

hero General and another wizard

still yet another Wizard

more of the crystals planned as part of the Ice Elf Camp

one of the Wizard stands was with an assistant

a comparison of 15mm (left) and 10mm (right)
I had found that the spear units were almost exactly 40mm
wide, which made them perfect for HotT/DBA
so I simply watched for if/when they went on sale
I saw early on that the rules were not popular around me
so I suspected they would eventually go on sale

Kelmyn
an imaginary force suggested by
stories of Michael Moorcock

they were 15mm Greek Hoplites that I already had
from MiniFigs

Dark Elves

archers

hero/General

General/Spears/Blades/

Riders

Riders/Heroes/General 

These Dark Elves came with a lot of different options, so I just went with what seemed possible.

Dark Humans

wizard

Hero/General with a gibbet

Riders/Hero/General

Knights

lots of Knights

the Knights have some great details

some blades units as well

 

ORKS!

or ORCS!, if you prefer 

they are riding boars!

Blades/General

with lots of other Blades around him ...

Wood Elves

Hero/General

another Hero/General

ballistae, with spears guards

shooters

This was the end of the finished armies that I took photos of ... somewhere here is another case with more troops in it ... Dwarves I think (have to look around)

In the process of sorting out these troops I also came across some 25mm treasures for fantasy and other games. 

a grouping

closeup

magic stuff

bedding

crates and barrels - good as objective markers

lots of the crates and barrels
(I have used them in Blood & Plunder games)

Another fun set of bits came to my attention as well:

the oldest set of dice I was ever gifted

my AD&D players gave me these in 1983

some fun Babylon 5 dice

then, the only colorful dice set I have

even now I can still read them at a distance

another clearance sale find

a grouping of 'add ons' for HotT forces

familiars and elementals they were called

a unicorn

Pegasus

Earth

Fire

Air

Water

 The idea being these could be 'added' to another army for a particular battle or summoned by a wizard/cleric/druid or be as a Lurker on the battlefield as a hazard for others.

One more little vignette of minis was found in this search, to be shared in a separate posting as it fits more with Pulp than HotT.

May you find the things you are looking for.