Something old, something new

Every time I break out my ACW lads I lament that I never got around to ordering some Generals, fences, artillery, Zouaves and  so on from Musket Miniatures before they shut down. I can make snake fences easily but post and rail fences are harder work so there I was surfing the net and wondering at the rarity and outrageous prices of HO "rustic" fences when POP! an add for the new Musket Miniature site. There isn't much in the way of info or pictures but I suspect perhaps someone bought the line. Well, say no more. Eight feet of cheap fencing and some sample figures are on their way!  I'll let you know what I think when I see them.   www.musketminiaturesandmodels.com

Game 2 Battle is joined.

My 1/72nd ACW lads have 2 distinct special places in my collection. First is the obvious nostalgia angle shared by many gamers of "a certain age". The second is that it is just about the only (no offence or denigration intended) "real" (sic) historical wargame left in my arsenal at the moment. By that I am partly referring to a certain degree of attention to scale and style of rules but mostly it's about the ability to refight actual historical battles in a non-abstract fashion. My remaining 1812 forces are close despite the choice of later style hats but there aren't enough left at the moment for anything but a very abstract game and that with borrowed troops.

Now there are some good reasons for this, I really enjoy quick, "game" heavy, fairly abstract, wargames. Quick to set up, engaging, perhaps even exciting on occasion, to play, quick to put away. Every now and then, however, its good to have a wargame that takes hours to research, plan and set up, and hours to play. Obviously the same figures can be used for both if they start as traditional wargame armies but I am determined to justify my reduced selection of scales and periods. Since these once big 20mm fellows are now my smallest figures, and are supported by very accessible research material, especially of my favourite eye witness kind, and fought over terrain that is familiar to me, they will carry the "historical" wargame banner for me.

This weekend's game was an impromptu affair designed by throwing an old cloth over the not yet cleared away bones of the last game and imagining what might be happening. It was probably inevitable that it would again be a clash between opposing Advance Guard divisions over controlling the high ground.  In each game, brigades rolled for time and place of entry making each game different.

I don't want to rebase my ACW armies or go to the "each 3 stand unit is a Brigade" level that I used for the 2014 Gettysburg game (click) or the 2013 Picket's Charge game (click) but cutting my units to 2 stands would allow me to easily fit a corps on my extended table so I tried it out. The rules were basically the ones used for last spring's ACW game in the pass clearance scenario. It worked ok but.........just didn't feel right and I realized that I don't want to paint up more flags or fiddle with the existing regiments, some of which have seen enough action now to make a name for themselves and be instantly recognizable. It also took 3 hours again for a medium size engagement and had the worse sin of getting tedious in parts. Too much rolling, not enough decision making.

Game 2. General Kinch was there Fustest with the Mostest but his attack was split and it stalled  as Yankee numbers continued to grow.

   On Sunday I reset and tried again using an alternate set of more OSW rules with a heavy dose of Featherstone but not his combat system since I have enough trouble tracking casualties as it is. Again it was "OK but".    This time, I couldn't quite put my finger on the problem, it just somehow didn't feel "right" and once again it had too few decision points and the combat system wasn't  "exciting" enough, no holding your breath on a big roll.

The battle was closing to a draw when suddenly it wasn't as the Confederate forces gave way.
BTW the top two pictures were taken using my smartphone, easy-peasey but never sharp, the bottom two were taken with my camera which is a pain in the ahem to use, tripod too big without being tall enough, no direct upload. Are the camera pictures any better? Seems to me that sometimes they are but usually they're not. (operator!) Are they worth the effort?
Please leave a comment if you have an opinion on the matter.

Finally. yesterday evening, after much thought, I went back to a simpler set based loosely on my earliest Morschauser inspired rules which are behind Hearts of Tin, The Square Brigadier and the Plastic Army of the Potomac, but less "game" oriented. That worked better and was more fun but was if anything too quick. Just needs some fine tuning and it should be my way forward for a full afternoon Corps game. I just need to out the effort into some better terrain and a quieter way to record hits. The pipe cleaners almost worked but they're too fat and tended to stick together. Maybe painted toothpicks or a different brand. Removing stands felt right too. It reduces frontages too quickly but gives that 'pit of the stomach' feeling as you strip away stands from a favourite unit or try to figure out how to plug the growing gaps, the emotional bit.

Next up Gorham's Skinny Rangers.