SHAKO 2 Battle : Forced River Crossing

 The game opportunity on the 4th of December came about.

It was great to get the minis on the table in the hands of some interested players, all of whom had some experience with SHAKO 2 rules and plenty of tabletop games time.

Two of my sons even managed to get set on the same team - yay teamwork!

The battle was set in 1813, somewhere in the Dresden area, where an Austrian Corps with Russian help was to force a crossing of a river...

overview of table from the French right flank

I have added a time-lapse camera location

The first time-lapse here is the set up of the tabletop.

the effective cross-roads that were the
major objective here ...

my rivers, roads and related materials all got a chance to hit the table

the new woods also was put to the task

A French rearguard was to hold off as long as possible - if they made it past 8 turns a tie would result, if they made it past 10 turns a minor victory, past 16 a major victory.

overview, the French were infantry from town to right flank
light cavalry in the open ground to the left - with a column
of hussars ready to charge the bridge

Austrians had the road 'open' for the expected columns of
infantry to storm the bridge

French Hussars seen here in the center image

French horse on the Austrian right, cross the river ...

Russian Dragoons had been sent off the Austrian left flank to seek a crossing and attack the French from the opposite bank of the river ... in the meantime Austrian grenadiers and line troops would storm the bridge while the army Corps artillery formed up to blast open an area where the Dragoons might be expected to appear ...

by turn four the action was rolling
(I had missed taking pics on turns 2 & 3)

already there had been a couple of clashes at the vital bridge

the Austrians were stacking up to assault again

French infantry were grimly holding on, awaiting their own
reinforcements

turn five saw the reinforcements arrive for both sides

French forces engaged in multiple directions

Austrian columns surged forward

supporting Russian infantry arrived

all the Austro-Russian forces were standing by for the
bridge to be forced open

at last the French supporting troops were arriving ...

would it be 'in time' to hold off the Austro-Russian forces?

the French chasseurs were in a consistent state of inaction
due to the masses of French infantry blocking their access

turn six was the amazing turn of flank attack and
a display of combined arms by the Austrians and Russians

Russian Dragoon division massacres French battalions
that were disordered just before by the massed Austrian Corps Artillery

Russian Dragoons then over-run French artillery

all the while Austrian grenadiers storm into French
infantry formations

arriving French artillery are hustled to the river bank
in an effort to break up the Austrian attack columns

massed Austrian forces were pouring fire across the river
until masked by the Russian Dragoons

the ultimate turn seven

Austrian grenadiers managed to force fully across the bridge
note the Austrian jaeger force now also across the river

while the Austrian storming division was wavering ... it did not stop their
assault using the grenadier battering ram

half of the village was now burning and French infantry would have
to retire ...

meanwhile the Russian Dragoons continued to
force back the arriving French forces

arriving Bavarian and Italian divisions were forced
into defensive action immediately

French HQ realized the situation was non-recoverable
and began withdrawal

Austrian forces organized for an initial pursuit

the Austrian militia division had arrived and halted
further to the top of the image is the Russian division
equally halted

The final few photos as last of the action were collected after I had departed on a rescue call.

Here is a time-lapse of the game action:

After the game my eldest son wants to extend the action and see what defending the bridgehead scenario - with the French counter-attack might be like ...

So now there is a sizable new years eve game series in the planning ...

ACW Union 2nd Division for 1st Bull Run

Two decades after starting this project, abandoning it at one point, it feels great to have this first Division of 15mm troops finalized.

The 2nd Division under Colonel Hunter
ready for the tabletop

 

Keen eyed readers will see the new 'label' markers and holders.  I have used some 'cubes' that my son asked me to generate for his games uses and there are plenty of extras.  So I have put them to some use here as 'weights' and supports for wires to hold the letters and 'pins' (in this case with green glass beads on them - to indicate fresh and loaded weapons for 'first fire'), there are more glass beaded pins with orange, red, yellow, two different blues and purple colors - something that can be separately defined.

painting in progress

the game set of these minis includes casualties and
a 'chicken dancer' for a disorder marker

there's just something about that interim moment
of the troops mounted to the bases

the moment again captured from overhead

here seen fully flocked, the casualties off to the
right of the image

Well, that's the first of many divisions.

I start 1st Division and Union Army HQ this week.

I may be ready to put something on the table in January of February at this rate.

Game table in action, more to come!

 There is now a glimmer of activity on the game table and there are plans for more action.

completed only the day before, the Sisters of Battle
take to the field!

the moment the camera came out ... many 1's

the tank came out well

combined with the older minis I did a few years ago

busy action

I even did some 'mud' flocking on the tank treads

good day for the boys in getting their 40K collections
on the tabletop

Meanwhile ... I continued painting.

now the base color and inks are done

Also, there was discussion about more tabletop action, including putting Napoleonic forces on the table on December 4.

A new years game weekend is also in progress.

Great to have the games back in action.

ACW 15mm Union troops - the painting starts

 After a few decades of delay and restart, at long last today I got base coat paint layer on the first Division of troops for the American Civil War 15mm games.

bare metal going through last cleaning and
filing down the bases for painting

Union General Hunter's 2nd Division
all mounted on to painting sticks for base coat

the first base coat layer, using airbrush base coat
applied with a brush

After such a long delay I am most pleased with the quick start here.

Warhammer 40K commission done

 My son asked me to do up some of the 'Sisters of Battle' for his 40K armies.

They were started off with some special models that he got a few years ago.

Today I finished off the bulk of the foot troops.

flying battle nuns
in basic undercoat & ink

same nuns - with highlights and metallic

Now the whole force is done and I can switch gears into ACW 15mm mode ...

everything just after matte coat application

Flocking as requested is done

The keen eyed will notice that the minis are on a different rack for drying ... I have moved upstairs for the time being as the garage hobby space is just too cold.

Continued ACW progress and paint works

 At long last I have put in some time to finish a project.

The WH 40K 'sisters of battle' group is very nearly ready for matte coating.

The game table got into action again.

ACW minis are starting the muster for uniforms and being prepared for battle.

just the foot troops in their stages, from bottom to top
base colors, mid-tones, highlights

mid-tones and highlights for another squad
and the vehicle

final colors and metallic
only the banners need finishing

My eldest and middle sons got together with others for a fun day of 40K

The 15mm ACW forces for Bull Run are all ready for muster and may see paint sometime this coming month ...

Finally, I came across a free bit of a display cabinet and have begun to stage items within it.

some of the larger 54mm Napoleonic statues I have
along with a few matching 28mm ones I painted (top shelf)
a little sample of the ECW forces (mid shelf)
starting to lay out some of the bookshelf games
(bottom shelf)

later on I found that the sloops fit nicely in the
lower shelf area ... maybe all the Pirates will
fit in this area?

A whirlwind month in October, not elected and happy to put in plenty of time in fire practice and getting some extra-curricular volunteer time at the elementary school - doing a little relay race with the grade-schoolers, I haven't laughed that much in a long time.

Up next on the painting schedule are the flying contingent for the sisters and then the long-awaited start of kitting up for the American Civil War forces.

ACW progress and terrain arrives, this winter painting project

 Hello everyone!

It has been a whirlwind time for us here, new changes in focus and activity planning.

Both my wife and I have decided to run for our local council, I have joined the volunteer fire department and this has put a huge pressure on available time. 

The Sarissa Precision Models terrain for 15mm that I ordered a while ago, started arriving ... there were two packages and the second one arrived ... I realized I had put the wrong post code on the order.  I was concerned about the #1 of 2 arriving!  This was at the end of September, so I delayed any blog post about this, I wanted to be certain all was here before writing anything.

For my UK based readers ... what sort of candy/treat is this?

found in the top of box #1

I'll hold off trying it until I start on the buildings ...

In the meantime I have been cutting bases for the troops, as my first target battle will be Bull Run, 1861.

I had these great 30mmx30mm bases, but they are just a bit too
wide and deep for the rules system that most
of the other gamers use ...

This meant that I needed to shave 5mm off one side and 20mm off the other ...

I got a nice low-cost coping saw

then got busy

this will possibly make for some 'debris'?

The bases are all done now.

the #2 box arrived ... and the concern about the
post code started

Meanwhile my son had asked me to help finish the Sisters of Battle force for him that I had started a couple of years ago ...

all metal sisters of battle
base coated and ready for my brushes

So the work spaces have been busy, just not with my projects.  Now the painting queue is filling fast.

at long last!  this past Thursday
box #1 of 2 arrived!

 

Okay, so now the buildings for ACW in 15mm, something I had envisioned in 1995, yet been unable to follow up on until recently.  A full on ACW game set in 15mm, a scale I have not painted much of in the past 20 years.

the Antietam set includes the Dunker Church
and a stone bridge

a wooden bridge and some rail fencing

some 'extra' rail and a flatbed car
>wait< 'extra'?

some houses

a shack and a house

a railway station, water tower and
more track

a full on train 4-0-0 with many cars
(hence the 'extra' of the other set)

and finally a couple of 15mm scale IRONCLADS
not likely to be much more than a visual aid
though it may be fun to come up with some
PRE-Iron rules dealing with keeping these
steam-powered things working!

... and there you have it dear readers, what my past few weeks have been all about and now having troops, buildings and more to get stuck into the ACW along with my son's Sisters of Battle project.

What have you been up to in the end of summer 2022?

Also, again for my UK readers, what is the candy/treat?