A New Year begins...

With a new project of course!
The first painting of 2019 welcomes the first unit of Roman Legionaries for my Caesarian army:

Painted simply, with washes and a highlight

The decals came with these Warlord Games figures and are quite nice.

No eyes! New Years resolution.

The plan is to build armies for Clash of Empires. I am a Warhammer Ancient Battles fan from way back, and I did think about building armies for those rules. But I picked up their successors, Clash of Empires from Great Escape Games and War and Conquest from Scarab Miniatures to do a comparison. I felt that War and Conquest was just a little too different, despite amazing numbers of army lists and online support. But Clash of Empires did everything I could want. It removed the 'hero-hammer' aspect of WAB so that the focus was more on historical units, and it also changed the order of hitting to: hit roll - armour save - wound; which makes far more sense than Warhammer's sequence. The downside is that although there are a number of army lists for CoE, they are not nearly as comprehensive as WAC. So I have based my two Marian armies on the Early Imperial Legions with some input from the Spartacus era lists. I have two 2500 point armies, one for Caesar and one for Pompey, and Craig has put together a Seleucid army which I will be painting for him so I don't always have to game this period solo.

End of 2019 gaming

Dan came over from Australia at Xmas, as noted in the previous post, and we played some games.
First up was and American Civil War Black Powder game:

Initial deployment had one brigade each on the table.

The combat for the bridge which was worth a victory point

Trouble at t'mill

Preparing to retake the bridge

Sorry these aren't full battle reports. It was a couple of weeks ago...

We then played Muskets and Tomahawks for the first time, and really enjoyed the game. No photos because the figures weren't painted, only undercoated in white, and looked like a bunch of ghosts chasing each other around the forest.

A couple of days later Dan rejoined us at the beach and we played a few more games. A game of The Great War (from PSC) which was really good. I'm planning on playing a lot more Commands and Colors games this year.

Then we broke out the Ancient Fantasy, complemented by Lego terrain:

Soldiers of the Eagle vs Crazy Celts. The Chieftain is already charging off by himself like a maniac!

Shieldwall!

The rest of the Celtic army is moping around down the back.

Really proud of my lego temple in the background there...

We played four games with various forces. Dan got the hang of it quickly and in the last game used the gladiator force against the Greeks. I think I killed a gladiator while he wiped me off the board...

2018 Wrap-up

Doing a tally of my painting from last year I've arrived at the following totals:
28mm = 278 infantry, 27 cavalry, 3 artillery, 11 vehicles (all Star Wars Legion)
15mm = 431 infantry, 69 cavalry, 14 artillery and 45 vehicles (mostly Team Yankee)
Other = 10 x 54mm infantry, 1 x 1/2400 ship, 5 x 1/300 ironclads

A good deal of the painting for myself was DBA, Team Yankee or American Civil War 15mm, although towards the end of the year I was starting to get through some of the 28mm Marlburians. For others, I painted the most for Craig - Team Yankee Soviets, Star Wars Legion - and some odds and sods for Geoff.
In terms of my goals for 2018, these were kept quite simple - a Russian 7 Years War army, the 1914 Austrian and Russian armies and the American Civil War. Well, I achieved the last one, but the Seven Years War collection made way for the chance to concentrate on Team Yankee, and the 1914 project is shelved (in fact boxed and in the attic).

I had 37 blog posts last year, my worst tally yet, but it has often been a trade off between actually doing the hobby and blogging about it as other aspects of life have become intrusive of hobby time (I'm looking at you Ministry of Education). It has also limited the amount of comments that I have made on blogs, as I tend to visit, skim and move on. Rest assured that if you're in my blogroll, I am  visiting your blog regularly, even if I'm not always commenting. Blogger needs a 'like' function...

2019 Plans

Looking ahead, what are my goals for this year? Again, I'll keep it simple and restricted to 2 large, 2 medium, and 2 mini projects.
1. 28mm Roman Civil War using the Clash of Empires rules.
2. 28mm War of Spanish Succession using Black Powder.
3. 28mm Vikings and Anglo-Danes for SAGA
4. 28mm Greeks for Mortal Gods
5. 28mm Chaos Marines for 40K Killteam
6. 28mm Napoleonics for Song of Drums and Shakos (skirmish)

Yes, all 28mm, and I'll be needing to get some terrain sorted for the Dark Ages in particular. Added to this is some 15mm Samurai for Samurai Battles, the Commands and Colors game set in the Sengoku Jidai.
In order to keep myself on track, Dan and I have come up with a challenge. Each week we'll set ourselves a painting goal, and if we achieve it, that will be one point. There's no specific amount that has to be painted, it could be a whole unit or it could be one figure - we'll judge by how busy we are and make it realistic. The idea is just to maintain some painting momentum, even when things get crazy.

All converted from the DBA armies. The basing has been altered since and represents the number of dice rolled and the movement abilities of the various troop types.

Finally, should I get any exttra time (which I'm sure I won't), there is this little project in the wings as well:

Viva la revolucion!

I also aim to get in some Bolt Action gaming with my Kiwis and Fallschirmjager, and some games of Commands and Colors in its various forms. I haven't played Bolt Action 2 yet, so it will be interesting to see how the game works.

Another plan for this year is to work on the Clobberin' Time rules. I've jotted down some ideas for a scenario generator and a side plot selector, and I've been giving more thought to the card activation and teams vs one powerful villain scenarios. I've got an idea in mind that just needs a playtest.

I would like to get closer to my previous 50-60 posts for this year, but it depends on how busy things get again. I've put in place an ambitious hobby programme for one year, and the blog will always be sacrificed for actual painting or gaming.

Nate

First Brigade advance into the Chickatachee Valley

The climax of the battle

 From the north there are three ways into the Chickatachee valley. The Western gap, the Central pike and the river itself as it loops through. The river is controlled by a battery on the bluffs overlooking Cedarsburg, and with the navy unable to proceed up the valley, it is currently not an option. So the Union commander decided to split his forces. First Brigade and the Cavalry Brigade would move down the Central pike while the Second and Third Brigades would attack through the Western gap.

The Central pike runs close to the Boone river, and there is a choke point at McPherson's Farm, where a stone bridge crosses the Boone and intersects the pike. This is where the Confederate defenders placed their pickets and set up the Texan Brigade within easy reach.

The pickets (left) spy the Union cavalry approaching.

Quickly riding back to McPherson's Farm they raise their comrades and send word to the Texan Brigade.

The Union cavalry approach warily.

The cavalry set themselves up behind the fences of the farm, while the Union troops find cover in a rocky area nearby.

A second unit of Union cavalry approaches.

The Texan Brigade is on its way. McPherson's Farm can be seen at the top of this picture.

The combined fire of the Union cavalry regiments drives off the Confederate defenders.

While the Texan Brigade begins to deploy.

The union first Brigade is also on its way.

The Union cavalry do their best to hold off the Texans, eagerly hoping that the First Brigade will get there to reinforce them in time.

The 1st Texas infantry charge uphill in to the cavalry in their hard cover.

Too late! the farm is recaptured by the Texans and the Union cavalry is sent skedaddling, along with the Indiana boys who were coming to act as the reinforcements!

The fight in the rocks is hard and bloody! But the Michigan boys are coming in for a flanking attack.

The lines take shape, with the Confederates in cover and the Union out in the open.

The Union line is weakening.

With 50% losses the First Brigade finally breaks.

With that the Union forces proved unable to force their way down the Central pike. How will the attack on the Western Gap fare? That will be the next battle.

In terms of painting, I've managed to get a bit more done:

Star Wars Legion Rebels for Craig

General Veers and the last of the Stormtroopers.

A couple of character figures for my Antony faction for Song of Broken Legions - Legate and Centurion.

With the other figures. I repainted their shields so they stand out from the Caesarians with their red shields and wings. Lucius Vorenus is in this group - Titus Pullo is with Octavian's mob.

 My other diversion has been sorting out a couple of fantasy armies using old Warhammer figures.  The intention is to use Dragon Rampant and mount the figures on multiple bases which will have built in strength markers. Orc boarboyz are on their way for another unit of heavy riders, and I'd like to get some ECW Cuirassiers for the human faction to round them out.

Human faction. The peasants at the front are 'Ravenous Hordes', the warjack at the back will be a greater warbeast.

Only 3 Orcs to a base, although the base will indicate 6 hit points. The bases at the front are for the Boar riders.

So plenty going on.

Nate

The mouth of the Chickatachee River

I kicked off my ACW campaign game today with an amphibious assault on the mouth of the Chickatachee River. Fort Chiccanchee sits on a bluff overlooking and dominating the river on it's left bank. On the right bank a couple of redoubts have been built to house some artillery. Alongside the big guns, there is a battalion of Confenderate infantry on either bank.

The Union assault would be led by two Ironclads - the USS Humphrey and USS Hunter, to be followed up by two timberclads carrying the assault troops. The plan was to suppress Fort Chiccanchee before landing two battalions to take it by storm. Once the left bank was secure, the boats would concentrate on the right bank and land the last two battalions. If things didn't go well on the left bank, a extra two battalions would be used to reinforce the assault on the fort.

The first two Ironclads steam into the river mouth. Fort Chiccanchee sits on the right in this photo (left bank).

Fort Chiccanchee, consisting of heavy emplaced gun, mortar and a defensive redoubt with defensive artillery.

The view from the river just before the bombardment commences.

The big guns fire

In it's first shot the USS Humphrey manages to take out the big gun. 

And next thing the USS Hunter destroys the artillery in the redoubt. This is looking too easy!

The heavy battery on the right bank scores a hit on the USS Humphrey, which reduces her speed.

The timberclads arrive.

The naval landing troops and 18th Ohio landed.

Clibing the slopes towards Chiccanchee. The South Carolina battalion can't stop them.

USS Humphrey lands another lucky hit on the last heavy artillery redoubt.

USS Hunger has taken a few hits that have knocked out some guns, but it still manages to land a battalion on the right bank.

The assault goes in on Fort Chiccanchee

The Right bank landing is getting into some trouble

The Ohio enter the fort from the rear and flank the South Carolinians...

... who can't hold on and rout!

The Confederate mortar is put out of action and the stars and stripes flies over fort Chiccanchee!

But things are going very badly on the right bank. 

The remnants of the landing party withdraw. 

So a mixed result. The primary objective, Fort Chiccanchee was taken and the left bank of the river mouth secured, but the Confederates still have control of the right bank. This means that the campaign in the Chickatachee valley will be without riverboat support, at least until another assault landing can be attempted.

I married the Featherstone-style ACW rules with a simple set of Ironclad rules written by Andy Callan and available for free on the net. They worked well, but I had to reduce the armour values of the ironclads mid game, otherwise it was taking way too long to do any damage. I also realised that none of my Featherstone style rules have any modifier for being outnumbered in melee, so I need to go and change that.

Nate