Re-learning the rules...

Starting learning Volley & Bayonet rtg again. Much of it I had all ready but it's always nice to go trough the rules and move some troops around the board and roll some dice.

On turn two of the scenario Stonewall Jackson comes on to the board with one brigade and even the odds a bit.

At the begining of turn four another southern brigade enters the board. By this time the union have moved up the rear most brigade but it is evenly match. Eight federal regiments agains 5 rebel regiments of infantry and 1 rebel cavalry regiment.

By this time I had to put the table away. As all of you wargame dads know, when then children want the space you have to give it to them...

This is my storage solution for my troops. And I have re-painted one more Dixon 25mm cavalry miniature from my past.

Until next time, keep rolling them sixes!

/Conny

Taking shape

Well the battlefield is almost done. I still need to make a road that goes from the Valley turnpike up to the Glass Farm but I ran out of cloth.

On the whole not a beutiful field but highly functional and easy to make.

I will try and find a cloth of a different colour for the woods since I don't like how much the dark green stands out.

I have started placing troops on the table to see how it looks.

It's interesting with a battle were one side has such a huge advantage in numbers from the start. Hopefully I will managde to find out how it goes next week.

Until next time keep rolling those sixes!

/Conny

Preparation has begun

For all my wargaming years I have always had a problem with terrain. You see all the fantastic tables people put up and you want it like that. But you find you don't have the skill or the time to build it. This leads to fewer games since I plan and plan to try to find the best solution to make a nice looking table. Well this time I have set my mind up to get more games done. So I went back to some basic materials to get the battlefields done.

The rivers, roads and forests will be marked with fabric and the hills I will build up on the table with cardboard and put a blanket over it. The idea is to be able to make diffrent battlefields in a relativly short time.

I may buy a darker blue cloth in the future but what I have will do for now.

The battle rosters and all labels are done for the Battle of Kernstown. I will return with pictures of the completed table once it is done.

Until then keep them sixes coming!

/Conny

A Humble beginning

After a time away from ACW and miniatures gaming for some years I'm now trying to start it up again.

I got hold of an excellent book "A Storm in the Valley 1862". This is a book with 10 scenarios focusing on Jacksons campaign in the Shenandoah Valley.

This book has got me going at it again. I'm planing on creating all the scenarios in the order writen in this book and maybe even try the campaign that is the 10th scenario.

But to make this happen I have to do some terrain. But I will go for simple fast constructions and materials to get started and get some games going. I have started to make labels for my units, a humble start...

O well thats all for now and hopefully I will soon return with some progress.

Until then keep rolling those sixes!

/Conny

How is it going with the woods?

Hi again

Well this weekend I have started on some prototypes to use as woods on my table. I wanted woods with a canopy that troops could move through and hide under. Usually woods are represented by a couple of trees standing in an designated area. I still have to mark the edge of the woods but I hope that these larger areas will look more lika a forest than some scattered trees. The problem I faced was the cost. I used some cheap mdf for the base of the canopy. Then in the guides I had read they used woodland scenic material for the leafs. But that is expensive stuff! I got hold on some pillow stuffing really cheap (found it on my work...) my idea here is to thin wood glue with water and then dreanch the pillow stuffing in small balls in it. Put it on the mdf and let dry. My first thought was that I had thinn it to much but it stuck on. The next step is to get some dark green sprey and make a base coat on the canopy. And to round it of some pictures.

Hope I don't get lost in the woods. Until the next time keep rolling sixes.

/Conny

Can't see the wood for all the trees

The work to make some wood for my battlefields has begun. The idea is to make a canopy that is raised from the table to simulate a wood and not single trees. I am trying to follow the guide on the Alter of Freedom homepage. I have made some slight changes but on the whole it is the same. Now I must find a store were I can buy material for the canopy and a hot glue gun. At last some pictures of the work in progress.

I will cut the tree trunks shorter when the glue has dried.

Until next time, keep those sixes coming!

/Conny

A small AAR

Hi again

We tested the rules Alter of Freedom this afternoon. I had only read the rules and never played them and my friend Fredrik had not read the rules so the first hour was dedicated to walk through the rules so both of us should have an idea of how they played. After that we took command of our forces. Fredrik commanded the confederate forces and I took command of the union.

I was to deploy my force on table and the confederates that was attacking should be moved on the table. There was rules that made me deploy thin to cover more space since I couldn't know were Fredrik would strike. The first turn he moved one division on to the field and I was responding to the threat.

Soon we realised that the board was to big for the rules so the movment was a bit to short. We decided to continue the battle despite this. But since a large part of the battlefield was covered with wood the going was really slow. We fought for some time and I lost a brigade so we called it a draw and agreed that we would try the rules again but on a more open battlefield.

As I usually use Volley and Bayonet for my civil war wargaming it was fun to test a new rule system. I was not convinced that this was a batter system than Volley and Bayonet but it had some interesting mechanics in it. The priority points bidding was nice. You have a number of points to distribute amongst youre divisions. The more points the more likely the division moves. I also liked the turn clock. The player that own the clock for the turn can dictate the pace of the turn. But the rules lack in explaning situations that can arise during a game. And the modifiers for shooting and close combat could have been better explained as when they was to be used and if it was for the defender or the attacker. The rules was all togheter fun and quick and I have to try them again to see if I can get some more tactics in. Now it was a lot of move and fight just to get a hang of it. 

Still I do prefer Volley and Bayonet!

Keep rolling those sixes/

Conny