Thursday, December 30, 2010

Dave Manley Dinner

Just a few pictures (I really have to get a better camera) of the Dinner we had with Dave Rock Bottom Brewery in Westminster.  We had a good crowd show up for food and drinks in the private room.

The conversations were nonstop with the usual long old grumbler stories which could knock a baby into dreamland and they did (lol).

I had enough
It was a very nice time which included bagpipe music by John.    

Beautiful Music John Thanks

I swear that music can bring a tear to your eyes.  Anyway, Dave you will be missed, for me, I will see you in Phoenix.

Good Luck from all of us here at CMH.





Friday, December 24, 2010

Brookhurst Hobbies

California
Brookhurst Hobbies, Garden Grove, California. (Link to Brookhurst Hobbies)

Wow, since the third grade (now 51yrs old) I have been coming to Brookhurst Hobbies.  I remember my friends, Mike and Tim (twins) and I would ride our bikes from our town of Artesia just to get there and buy something.

The Temple Entry
It would take us over an hour to ride to their old location a mile or so from where they are now.  It was a long ride for us at the time but always worth it.  The staff always asked if they could help us find something but we always said no because it was like a treasure hunt. This is where I bought my first Airfix figures, terrain pieces, glue, paint, etc. So many memories.
Its a tradition now, that every time I come to visit my family I have to stop in and say hello to Larry and the Twins Louie and Steve.  So I posted a couple of pictures here just to give you an idea of what it looks like.  Again, anytime anyone knows I am coming down just let me know and I can pick up what you need.    
A FULL Rules Rack

Friday, December 17, 2010

2011 Wargaming

I just thought I would take a moment to say goodbye to 2010 and look forward into 2011.  I have already made some resolutions regarding this great hobby we all share.  This would be the first time in over 40 years of gaming that I thought of actually planning what I wanted to accomplish. So with that said...

Conventions 2011
I am going to put on two games to start off the year of conventions at Genghis Con in February.  A Black Powder Napoleonic Peninsular battle and a modern Iraq Ambush Alley game.  Should be fun.

Then to West Wars in May where I plan to put on a Regimental Fire and Fury game, the Battle of Monocacy and a DBN battle at  Cryslers Farm in the War of 1812.

Who is going to Historicon in July?  If work doesn't get in the way I should be there at Valley Forge with a few of  you.

In September Tacticon will be upon us. I hope to put on some big games.

Which will bring us to Vet Wars 2011!  I hope to be running this one again next year.  The 2nd annual DBN tournament will be held with Terry, Andrew and Tony defending their top positions.

2011 Projects
This year I purchased N Scale World War II Pacific figures and models from GFI.  I want to start work on some beach landing terrain in the summer where I want to fight a few battles I have been reading about.  I am sure I will be looking for advise and suggestions on how to proceed from our club members.  It should be allot of fun.  I hope to have it ready to fight late in 2011.

I am also working on a modern Iraq scenario in 1/285 scale with Andrew.  We are going to be building terrain based on some of the locations where he saw action near Al Qaim just south of the Syrian border.  We intend on introducing the complexities of putting down your forces where insurgents start trouble.  Kind of like Indian fighting except that you have modern weapons to deploy.  More discussion on the rules, terrain building, etc., will be blogged later.

Of course there will be lots of action at the club meetings and I look forward to some great gaming in 2011.  So let's all have a happy new year fighting each other, on the table top of course!

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Regimental Fire and Fury - Battle of Ball's Bluff (Play Test)

Board looking from the Union side

This is the first scenario in the new rulebook that Matt Vigil and I decided to fight.  Matt commanded the Rebel’s and I took the Yanks that were fighting for time to get back across the Potomac.  It didn’t work out too well for Baker (me) and my Green Union force.  As always Matt lays out some great terrain as you can see by the photos. 

Turn 1
The first turn started with the 8th Virginia moving to the edge of the tree line and receiving a disorder effect from the Union Guns on the central hill position.

8th Virginia advancing the center
Note: The turn sequence is the same as Fire and Fury (FnF).  Maneuver, Defensive Fire, Offensive fire and then melee.  The difference in Regimental Fire and Fury (RFnF) is that the Brigade Commander rolls one time for all of his units under command.  You simply figure out the modifiers for each unit and consult the maneuver chart to see what you are able to do that turn.  They specify and list the maneuvers for Well Handled and Tardy.  And if you score high enough then your movement rate can also increase.  This would be a Double Quick Result.  Separate checks are done for units out of command.

Turn 2
So during this command phase the Commander rolled the d10.  In this case he looks at the situation of the 8th Virginia.  They are disordered and Fresh so they consult the maneuver chart under “in command” and looks to the disordered part of the table.  The result was a rally and they would consult the tardy maneuver list.  On the Union left the 1st California Regiment (btw has pretty much nothing to do with California, see link California/Philadelphia Brigade), defensive fire against the advancing 18th Mississippi was ineffective but the offensive fire from the 18th was devastating to the California Regt causing two losses and disorder. 

Note:  Calculating fire modifiers is different in RFnF.  You tally up your fire points based on range of the particular weapon being fired.  That will provide you a modifier which is added to others.  The modifiers are different than FnF and each plus or minus has more effect at this scale then before.  Don’t expose your flanks!  The other difference is that you consult the fire results table based on the TARGET quality.  During this battle all of the Rebs were trained and the Union Green.  Being green effects maneuver and fire combat rolls. 

1st California charge checked by withering fire
Still in Turn 2 it was the Union’s turn to dish it back out.  What a fiasco!  The California has a good maneuver result so Baker (me) decided to charge the 18th Mississippi on the left but the Rebel fire was too devastating which checked the charge and killed off more Yanks leaving them disordered.  In the center I elected to move out the 20th Maine to counter the 8th Mississippi in the center.  If you look the road on the Union right you can see the Combined Mississippi trying to outflank the Union hill position. 



Turn 3
18th and 17th Mississippi advancing into a crossfire
The turn started with 8th Va in the center failing their maneuver check which had them fallback in disorder.  On the Union left the combined assault by the 18 and 17th Mississippians charged the California Regiment which had the 42 New York providing support within two inches.  Again during the fire phase the California receives another withering fire result.  As expected both the California and New York were pushed back and receiving more casualties.  In this case the result states the attacker takes the position.  The rules state that the 17th moves with the 18th in support. 

Note: Firing at a massed target.  When the Californians received the withering fire the New York in support should have received one result less than the primary target.  So they should have took one base also became disordered.  We forgot about that one.  Also note that a galling fire result states that the unit is disordered and IF it is already disordered then lose one stand. 

The 18th Mississippi in crossfire (Flank Fire from 20th Maine)
Still in Turn 3 the Union commander must react to the 18th and 17th assault on his left by maneuvering his troops successfully into a semi circle putting the 18th into a cross fire.  The result was a poor roll which caused a casualty an put them in disorder.  The Union was able to check the flanking Mississippi on there left with some disordering fire.  So a good turn for the Union.  That will change fairly quickly next turn.

Note: This scenario states 15 turns but we really don’t think it will last that long.  But it depends on the players.  Matt and I tend to be aggressive and battles sometimes are shortened due to losses.

Turn 4
20th Maine getting a dose of flanking fire
During this maneuver with the Rebel assault checked the 18th failed their maneuver check and had to retreat.  They had broken through so far that they ended up with the 20th Maine on their exposed flank which warrants a -2 for the maneuver check.  In their firing phase the Union again took the worse of it.  The Californians were disordered and have fallen below worn status, the 20th Maine who turned their flank to join the cross fire was itself a target of the recovering 8th Virginia who was joined by the roving Rebel Cavalry who dismounted to join the firing line.  The 20th Maine was devastated and lost two bases to that flanking fire.  For the firing combat they added a +2, ouch!  Don’t expose your Flanks!  Did I say that already?

Note:  The Union also reached the Heavy Casualty level so that effects your maneuver rolls with another minus.

1st California and 20th Maine Broke!
So in the Union maneuver phase it got worse with a command roll of 1.  This Broke the California and 20th Maine.  The rebels were able to hit each broken unit once more as a pass through fire target.  So you can see that the heavy casualty (-1), green unit (-1), spent status (-2), etc, neither really had a chance to stay in the fight.  The 15th Maine and 42nd New York were left but it was obvious they were going to get overrun. 

Turn 5
For the rebels they were lining up for the final assault but we could see it wasn’t going to be necessary. 
  
During the Union maneuver phase the Commander rolled another bad one.  The California and the Maine routed off the field (into the Potomac).  The last thin the Union could do was charge the 15 Maine off the hill at the attacking Combined Mississippi on the right flank.  The 15th lost the Melee and we pretty much ended the battle at that point. 

Victory Conditions
There seems to be three (3) victory conditions you need to achieve.  One being the Key Positions of which the Rebel force would score a point. Causing an Army to reach their Heavy Casualty point in this case it was 13 for the Green Union Force and 11 for the Rebs.  So the Rebs got me there for another point.  And then overall infliction of more casualties for another.  So in this case I would have lost 3 to nada.  Of course scenarios can modify those.  What I like is that you can use a Wagon and an Ambulance model to represent a  a ammo supply point and heavy casualties. 

Last Word
Matt and I really enjoyed the RFnF.  Matt was a little leery about the Regimental level but to his surprise the rules are really well done.  They have the “chrome” that makes it feel more like a Regimental game.  I found myself really getting into the battle to make sure my troops were not exposed because the modifying factors in these battles are going to make or break your command.  The battle lasted about two and half hours.  Well that was with me taking double the amount of pictures you see here, taking time for Matt and I to jot notes on my IPAD between turns, etc.  Both of us being vet FnF players we probably could have played this battle in a little over half the time.  Other “chrome” we really liked was that smoothbore muskets can use buck and ball when being charged only.  This provides another plus one.  The same for the Cold Steel where a charging unit can elect not to fire and use cold steel for the charge.  This provides a plus one to the combat.  Matt made the comment that this new set of Regimental Fire and Fury rules are now in his top five rulesets. I would have to agree. And I feel a RFnF tourney in our clubs future.    Please feel free to add any questions or comments to my blog.  

Monday, November 22, 2010

Regimental Fire and Fury

The next small project for Matt V. and I will be to fight some battles using the new Regimental Fire and Fury Battles.  We are reading through the rules now and will start with the introductory scenario the Battle of Ball's Bluff, October 21, 1861.  We plan on fighting it twice and writing up after action reports focused focused mainly on the rules.  We are then going to replay it using Black Powder to see how they compare. Should be interesting.  We will make sure to take some pictures.  If anyone is interested in participating we will let you know when and where.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Ambush Alley (Modern Urban Combat)

I just wanted to make a comment or two regarding the very nice set of rules called Ambush Alley.  Some of you have played in my battles before.  At the time I was looking for a game system that was easy to learn and still gave you the feel of Modern urban combat.  They also have great support and other scenarios you can download from the Ambush Alley website.  It helped having my Nephew Andrew (Marine) who fought "over there" to comment on the rules while we were learning them.  We came up with many scenarios and we will revisit next year in order to put on some battles at the club.  The game is played on a 2 x 2  or a 2 x 4 square table, usually filled with many buildings, burnt out vehicles and alleys.  You take your squads into the hostile neighborhoods of an Iraq city to accomplish your mission.  As your troops move through the alleys and enter buildings the hidden Insurgents are able to react to those moves which is the core of the free flowing rule system. Its allot of fun and very intense.  I will be running a game or two at Genghis Con (2011), I hope you can join us.  

Genghis Con (2011)

Next year I have decided to come out of Convention retirement.  Along with other CMH members I am going to put on a couple of games.  A Black Power Napoleonic battle in Spain and a Modern Iraq battle using the excellent Ambush Alley Rules.  Here is the listing.  


Napoleonic 15mm
Black Powder Rules
Cadiz, Spain, January 1812
This battle simulates a typical scenario where the besieging French are caught
off Guard by British columns trying to breakout into the Spanish countryside.
Experience: Beginner +
Figures provided
Saturday Morning (4 hours max)
Number of Players: 4
Dan Gurule, CMH


Modern Iraq 15mm
Ambush Alley/Force on Force Rules
Modern Day Iraq
As a Squad or Platoon Leader you will lead your Marines into a hostile
neighborhood seeking out a local warlord. The house to house fighting will be
intense and bloody.
Experience: Beginner +
Figures provided
Saturday Afternoon (4 hours max)
Number of Players: 6
Dan Gurule, CMH

1st Annual DBN Tournament (2010)

I wanted to get into a little detail regarding the DBN Tournament held at Vet Wars 2010.  First I would like to acknowledge the players that participated with their scores.  In the tourney you ended the game by scoring 4 points or the one hour clock expired. Then we took each Win/Loss score for the 3 battles you played to get a Kill Ratio.  These are the official individual results results.  Overall team victory goes to the French Players scoring a (+) 1 to (-) 1 Kill Ratio.  Vive le France!

1. Terry S. - Playing the British scored 4/1, 4/0, and 1/3 for the top kill ratio of (+) 6.
2. Andrew G. - Playing the British scored 4/1, 2/2, and 4/2 for the second spot of (+) 5.
3. Tony F. - Playing the French scored 4/1, 4/1, 2/4 for a third place ratio of (+) 4.
4. Collin - Playing a French Army scored 4/1, 0/4, 4/1 for a tie for 4th place with a ratio of (+) 2.
4. Nate - Playing a French Army scored 2/1, 0/0, 2/1 for a tie for 4th place with a ratio of (+) 2.
5. Matt - Playing a Prussian Army scored 1/4, 0/0, 4/3 for a 5th place ratio of (-) 2.
6. John - Playing a French Army scored 1/4, 4/2, 4/6 for a 6th place ratio of (-) 3.
7. Greg - Playing a French Army scored 1/4, 2/2, 3/4 tied at 7th place with a ratio of (-) 4.
7. Dan - Playing an Austrian Army scored 1/4, 1/4, 6/4 tied at 7th place with a ratio of (-) 4.
8. Scott - Playing an Austrian Army scored 1/2, 2/4, 1/4 took the bottom spot with a kill ratio of (-) 6.

So we had 10 players fighting with 12 point Armies on preset 2 x 2 terrain boards.  You can see that those nasty British Armies with that excellent firepower took the top two spots.  And you can also see that the Austrians were pretty much at the bottom during this 1812 Campaign.  Looking forward to next years tourney.  We will look at fighting 1813/1814 next time?

DBN Terrain Boards

This is my first post on my new blog.  Looking for comments on the boards that were built and used in the DBN tournament. Were some boards tougher to fight on than others?  I was hearing that the Bridge Board and the one with the two forests and bad going were challenging.  Well that is what it's all about.  See Tony's DBN Post.