If by some miracle you noticed my absence from the blog-o-sphere the last month or so you're in luck - I'm here and am alive. Im also continuing to paint miniatures and even occasionally throw some dice around.
The tempo of "regular life" has been brutal this autumn, with real life events taking center stage. You know what I'm talking about. Soccer games, kid horseback riding lessons, violin practice, work, chores, family events, etc. None of these things are bad, mind you, but they don't leave much time for blogging about gaming. Untangling this messy calendar to find time for gaming has been a gordian-knot of a challenge but we still found a way to make it all work.
Over the last month I'm pleased to say I participated in Jon Freitag's epic Brandywine virtual game commanding Sullivan's Division, attended Historicon 21 in-person (picking up some sweet German armored cars in the process), and finally was able to visit Bryan L's house, refighting the entire battle of Antietam on a Friday afternoon with his outstanding mash-up of Battle Cry and Hold the Line, all on a massive, blown up SPI map with thousands of 1/72 figures!
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| View from the South at Antietam from 11/12 game |
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| Hooker Strikes! I made some impressive gains with my Corps, but couldn't HOLD them! That's a Brigade of mine in the cornfield in front of Dunker Church. We'd go on to capture the Rebel Battery on the right, drive off Stuart's Cavalry, and push the rebels back to the point of destruction, only to see Jackson's timely reinforcement of the position (note the sunken lane in top left of picture also). The "leisurely" pace of the Union assaults and their release doomed my Corps! It was a blast! |
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| Taking the ground around Dunker Church and pushing the Rebels back! |
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| Capturing the Rebel battery! But no Artillery troops to crew it - they're enroute from the UNion reinforcement point but would never make it! Here my boys successfully drove off Stuart's Cavalry with fire. |
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| Bryan's Gaming Bunker with Bryan (L), Steve M. (middle) and Al (kepi). I love Bryan's games and they have such an epic scope to them on the big battle SPI maps. |
This weekend also saw a return to in-person conventions with me stopping by Historicon with Dave in King of Prussia. I'd like to post more about that but I didn't play in any games and really wasn't feeling up to being there. I ended up giving my $25 dollar voucher to Dave and all I really wanted to do was watch the Flames of War tournament games. The company's custom "tournament" boards are absolutely out of this world beautiful. The pictures dont do them justice.
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| The railroad tracks are permanently part of this eastern front board. |
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| I loved the use of static grass to demarcate the fields - which were regular flock BTW. Brilliant idea which I have never thought of! |
And finally, big changes coming to my Napoleonic Eylau project and I saved the absolute best for last. I ripped all of my III Corps Blucher-based troops up. You read that right. I made the decision to make my basing more universal. As much as I love Brigade sized stands, I can't use them properly with all of the rules I enjoy and so it was time to remedy that, once and for all. They are going to be permanently based on 30mm square bases. I've also decided on a rules set for the Eylau project but you'll have to stay tuned on what that's going to be :)
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| Ever wonder what 800 painted 10mm Napoleonic French look like? Now you dont have to guess! |
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| Getting creative - note the horse mounted officer and officer with saber urging forward! Here is going to be their permanent home on 30 x 30mm squares. |
Working on Davout's Corps first - then onto Soult's and Ney's. Huzzah!
That’s a LOT of French infantry! More than a battalion at 1:1. And you’re still not finished by the sound of it.
ReplyDeleteDidn’t think you were dead by the way. Not even ‘pining got the fjords’.
Cheers sir! many more infantry to come. you should see the UNpainted lot!! that may make me want to take that walk down by the fjords.
DeleteHi - Effing program ate my comment. Grrrr.
ReplyDeleteWe missed having Bryan L. run some games at H-con. Bryan - Come back! We need you.
Steve - you may want to consider rebasing to 30x30s with adhesive magnetic sheet on the bottom of stands. You can then put magnetic sheet or better yet, metal on a larger sabot base. We did that with 6mms (two strips/stand) on 20x20 mdf, all going onto a 2 1/2" by 2 1/2" base. We also use magnetic colored unit labels. Whole stands are removed as a way of tracking casualties. In any case, good to have your blog resume!
thank you sir! the magnetic thought had def crossed my mind. way more durable when shipping or transporting. Bryan L's games are always a great time and Antietam was no exception!
DeleteSteve, pleased to have you squeeze in time for the Brandywine game. It was really good fun especially to have your gaming compadre, Ken, join in too. Historicon looked like fun.
ReplyDeleteHopefully, hobby time will return soon. Still interested in Cedar Mountain?
Jonathan - Great job on the Brandywine table. We too have switched over to using hexes and zones for minis. Speeds up play by at least half. The main trick is to visually downplay the dividing lines as much as possible without losing functionality.
DeleteJonathan - am I still up for Cedar Mountain? the answer could only be a resounding YES!!!
DeleteBrandywine was fun and apparently Ken was onto something with crossing the creek and...attacking?
ARRT-DC, thank you Sir! Glad you enjoyed the battle. Hexes certainly lend a hand at speeding play and reducing fuzziness in moving, firing, and facing.
DeleteSteve, apparently Ken WAS on to something! Perhaps the later Americans took note of Ken’s strategy?
Deleteit certainly seemed that way, Jon!
Deletealso I personally think hexes lend themselves to quicker play and really enable a smooth virtual Session (from the guy who has never once hosted a virtual session!)
DeleteSteve, Bryan's blown up map looks superb, I would have thought the original image would have broken down with the resolution being pushed so far, but it looks great.
ReplyDeleteWhat can I say about the 800 x 10mm? ... just Wow! I know how much effort must have gone into that rebasing, but the spectacle is going to look amazing.
Norm I know he pays alot of money to have those maps blown up but they make for such an outstanding game, especially if you come from the realm if board wargaming!
Deletethank you for your kind words sir! I am wanting to get more out of them and as they were I was just not able to out them on the table for games i want them to play in. so here we are - hopefully for the last time!
30x30 is a nice flexible base size, it is a dimension I use for lots of my stuff. I'm not a big fan of those huge 60x30 bases which some people use, they can look nice but they are so inflexible.
ReplyDeleteMartin I really liked my single base, 100mm units, but I could not play with any other rules except one or two rules sets and so this allows for maximum flexibility. I can play these fellows in any game now and any level of command.
DeleteIt’s a shame you changed the basing because they looked so good, but I see your point. Have a quick look at this before it’s blitzed from the web. It’s my flexible solution: http://jefslittlewinki.pbworks.com/w/page/133892790/1866
ReplyDeleteJeffers that's a great and clever idea. I wish I'd thought of that before desperately ripping my troops off their 4 x 2 bases :)
Deletealso I enjoyed perusing your wiki page.
truthfully I wasnt getting any games, even solo, out of them and I felt they needed a makeover and a rebasing after hard years on campaign. they're getting ready for their next big challenge - Eylau!
Steve! It's damn good to see you back in circulation. I totally understand about the real world minimizing your time to blog. Glad you got to Historicon though. I didn't make it over this time, but the next one will be held in Lancaster so I have no excuse for missing it.
ReplyDeletehey Mike! thanks for stopping by! yep I'm sort of back. hoping the holidays allow me to get some blogging and painting done. let me know when you go to the next convention I will see you there sir!
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