Merry Christmas

No cool pics or battle report, just a Merry Christmas to all of the wargamers and miniature aficionados out there.

Bolt Action Review

The Baron welcomed the group to his zuhause for a night of WWII tactics.  This would be our maiden voyage into the world of Bolt Action. Scott L. and I got to sample these rules at the last Recruits con in Lee's Summit, MO.  It was a watered-down version, but nevertheless a lot of fun.  Bolt Action rules feature unique dice that are randomly drawn to mark turns and give the drawn die's player the option of one of six actions.  As with any new ruleset, there were some growing pains as the evening wound down, however with some gained experience I believe this will be a ruleset that will offer simplicity and some exciting evenings of skirmish play.

Our scenario featured a few platoon-size forces squaring off.  The Germans would begin with a couple of SS squads, a Fallschirmjager squad, an MG42 and mortar team, a Panzer IV, and PaK 40.  The Americans would go to battle with a few paratrooper squads, three 2nd Ranger squads, a mortar team and .30 cal team, and a pair of Shermans. the object of the game was for the Americans to get a unit across a river. In order to achieve this, they would have to move through a German-fortified hamlet. One thing I believe we would change the next go would be to separate the MG teams from the mortar teams (they were set up together as heavy weapons squads). The necessity to leave the mortar teams to the rear rendered the MG teams all but useless as squads must remain intact.

 The Americans deploy.

The huns prior to taking their positions within the town.

 2nd Ranger and 101st squads move up behind a Sherman.

 German armor moves into position to cover the German right flank.

 A German anti-tank gun covers the southern entrence to the town.

SS infantry take up position within the town.

 Fallschirmjager support a heavy MG team on the left flank.

 The second Sherman moves up to a hedgerow.

 The Panzer and PaK40 attempt to bracket the approaching Americans.

 The Rangers get off a bazooka round that hits the mark.

 An airborne squad moves into a structure.

 More Fallschirmjager move up.

 Paratroopers finish off the PaK40.

 A second paratrooper squad is ambushed while attempting a flanking maneuver.

Shermans roll down mainstreet.

Perry 14th Brooklyn

I have been able to get quite a bit of work done of late, as we've gotten settled into our new home quicker than I though we would and the cold weather has kept me indoors.  Last night I put the finishing touches on a unit of Brooklyn Chaussures.  Early on I hadn't planned on having the 14th in my collection (I already had two U.S. zouave units and didn't want too many of the flamboyant uniforms that petered out as the war ground on).  To get the most bang for my shipping dollars, I decided to throw them into my shopping cart when buying some bases from Architects of War - I'm glad I did.  These are probably the nicest minis I've ever painted.  The poses are extremely lifelike and the sculpts are detailed and clean.  I just wish the Perry metals weren't so expensive, but you definitely get what you pay for.  These will work nicely for some Gettysburg - day 1 scenarios I'd like to run.

2 Year Mark

I am creating this post a few months late, so I'm actually at 26 months into my 25mm ACW (and this hobby in a broader sense) project.  With the lion's share of my minis being ACW with about a hundred 25mm World War 2 and about 100 15mm ancient Rome thrown in, my count is at about a thousand completed minis including horses, artillery, and cassions/limbers.  I have also painted a few WW2 vehicles.  In addition to the minis, I have completed a pretty nice collection of terrain pieces as well.

I figure about another 18 months before my ACW project is completed, but so far it has been a fun go at it. My future plans are to have five Iron Brigade regiments,  four Irish Brigade regiments, and the 54th MA completed. That will leave me with about 175 Federal infantry stands broken up into about 20 regiments. That gives me about five more regiments worth of work. I will plan for another four or five reb infantry stands for a total of about 15 regiments.  I still have some gun/cassion stands to complete with a pair of supply wagons. I anticipate work beginning on a table later in the year and hopefully a hosted game by late summer/early fall.

Next up: 14th Brooklyn and some more gun and cassion stands.