Cowboys dipped... now just need varnish and basing!

Here are the next five cowboys, dipped and ready for matte varnish and basing!  I particularly love the fellow on the far right... very "Bill the Butcher" to me, with that tall grey hat.

I'll varnish them tonight and then drop them off at my buddy's place and he'll base them.

Five new 15mm Cowboys gallop towards town...

Just the latest WIP!  Still a little way to go, and dip, and the rest, but overall I think they will look sharp!

A super top secret project about to be released...

Howdy all!

You may recall some months back I had no new table shots for a while, and gave a few shady mentions of an ACW project that I then offered no photos of...

...Or you may NOT recall, in which case I am reminding you.

Anyway, the project that I was giving just a touch of help with is about to come to light, and I have to say, it is a completely original and unique wargaming venture.  It is not often that you get that sort of thing in our hobby, but this is one of those times.

So... when it is finally released (which should be in a matter of days) I'll have more here on my blog (and you'll see info elsewhere as well, but I should have some unique contributions...) but for now, here is a little teaser...

...and I hope that folks can enjoy and support a truly unique wargaming venture!

More 15mm Cowboys

Howdy, partners!

Well, yesterday I went over to my buddy's place.  He still doesn't have the 15mm cowboys on the table yet... however, he did set up a basic 15mm cowboy setup on his little, fold-out 6x4 table.  Now, it is not at ALL finished up... no flocking, still all the animals need work... lots of work still to be done... but still, it looks pretty neat, and we thought we'd get a few games of our new cowboy game in!

Here is a shot of a "house under construction" my buddy made.  It is nice, as it adds a cool visual touch to the town, and it looks sharp... plus, it gave him a chance to build a model of a house under construction, which allowed him to think about actual construction a bit!

Here is the Wells Fargo wagon he just finished... ready to get held up!

Here is the little tent city on the outskirts of town... maybe some temporary workers, coming in to work on the railroad, or mining, or something like that...

A shot from one end of town.

The preacher on his mule.

The gunshop at the center of town...

...overlooked by the well dressed chap on the balcony.

Another shot of town.

We also knocked out two games... we used my buddy's gang, The Jaunty Bunch, as the "player" gang, and I ran the NPC gangs.  I didn't get a shot-by-shot set of photos, but I can at least give a little rundown!  Above you can see my cowboys riding in from the bottom of the photo (one of my guys is in an alley beside the big salon on the left side of the street) and The Jaunty Bunch riding in from the top... two in the center, and one leaping the fences outside of town on the righthand side of town aiming to hit my gang from the flank.

Here is the Jaunty Bunch!  They are a well dressed crew, ready for action, either of the gunfight variety or the lady variety!  The Boss of the bunch is on the right of the shot... we call him Frijoles Negro for short, because of his all black outfit.

Here two members of the Jaunty Bunch are setting up on either side of the street as my gang, out of shot to the right, gallops down the street.

Both sides are ready to roll!  No shooting has started, so a few civilians who haven't noticed what is happening are still walking around the streets.  One of my guys has entered the saloon in the center, looking to get on the balcony to get a better line of sight.  You can always tell which buildings have men in them, as we leave the roof off when the buildings are occupied.  At the intersection you can see one of my buddy's cowboys standing on the left side of the building with the roof off, and my Boss standing on the other side... tense moment, as my buddy also ran his Boss into the building with the blue interior, with the idea of popping out of the door at the top of the landing to get the drop on my guy, who was busy watching the corner!

An amusing aside... there is a civilian on the sidewalk on the top of the street who hasn't noticed guys ducking into the alleys with guns drawn...

He pops out, and found my cowboy (or cowgirl, actually) waiting for him!  She popped off a few rounds, forcing him back into the doorway, and then injuring him... and he ran in momentary panic!

Meanwhile one of my cowboys burst out onto the balcony and fired down at the enemy hiding at the edge of the building below him and across the street... but in an amazing display of accuracy, my buddy's cowboy on horseback fired a single round, blasting my cowboy right off his feet!  Ugh!  My rolls on the day were ALL pretty bad:(

My buddy's cowboy on the far left manages to shoot down my guy on the far right, and Frijoles Negro, having regained his nerve, stormed back out the door into a hail of gunfire, ducking and blasting my cowgirl full in the chest!  She crumbled to the ground, my last cowboy dead.

A tough game!  My buddy rolled some REALLY good shots (that single shot from horseback that killed my guy in cover up on the balcony was pretty nuts!)  He rolled up the Gear he found after the fight, and got himself TWO weapons... a shotgun and a carbine!  This would be nice for The Jaunty Bunch going forward... the shotgun is great for pinning enemies down, and the carbine would allow them to engage the enemy from far out!

The next game, unfortunately, I forgot to take many photos!  My NPC gang was a strange one... two guys with sawed off shotguns, and a boss whose skill was close combat fighting!  My objective was to get a guy into the gun shop in the center of town and find a particular pistol I wanted... above is a shot of two of my guys running out the street

Unfortunately, as in the last game, my buddy rolled some DAMN fine shots.  He killed one of my cowboys quickly, and I had one of my guys with the sawed off charging across the street to open up in the face of Frijoles Negro when, at the VERY last moment, he blasted my guy!  However, as he was busy my Boss charged around the corner and buried a knife in Frijoles Negro's stomach!  His other two cowboys tracked my Boss down (he is that blur at the very top of the photo at the corner of the building) blasting away and actually wounding him THREE times.  My boss, blood dripping down his sleeve and clutching his gut, blasted with his sawed off, forcing one of my buddy's cowboys down and tried to follow it up by stabbing him in the chest, but he was too weak... and my buddy finished off my last cowboy.

Overall a good game!  Frijoles Negro survived his wounds (although two of his stats did permanently go down a bit) and his gang found themselves another carbine in the loot.  The Jaunty Bunch would really be able to keep their enemies at a distance... and the fact that Frijoles Negro's skill was the ability to shoot from horseback without any penalties made them a dangerous group of cowboys.

So!  Two REALLY enjoyable games!  Can't wait until all the cowboy stuff can make it to the big table!

10mm Napoleonics; the Battle of Edificio continued!

Howdy all!

I got some more of my latest 10mm Napoleonic game done... so here you go!

Okay... so when we last left off, the French were beginning to get their artillery into position, while their troops began to hold up.  The British were contemplating an attack on the far flank... otherwise, they might be pounded to pieces once the French artillery was set!  Meanwhile, on the near flank, the two cavalry forces were facing off while the French Guard looked up the hill at the deploying Spaniards.

The French artillery began to spread out, and the battery on the top of the hill began to fire on the Spanish battalion that had deployed before the British guns.

Colonel Thayer finally launched his attack on the flank.  Most of his battalions formed into line to attack, while in the center a single column acted to hold them together.

As the lines of red got closer to the edge of the woods both sides opened fire, smoke rolling down the lines.

Behind the first line of attack, Colonel Smith's elite brigade advanced in column past the farmhouse, where the Duke bellowed out encouragement, and began to advance toward the center of the French lines... right at the deployed French artillery!

The British pushed closer, the elite brigade coming up in the center of the field.  Men fell, screaming and cursing, on both sides, the sergeants pushing the men together and forward.  Behind Colonel Vin's Guard brigade advanced behind Colonel Vin's beleaguered, besieged infantry.

The French rushed their third battery around the woods and quickly deployed it, and prepared to pound the attacking British lines with cannister.

In the center Colonel Smith's Guard brigade charged forward, drums beating and the Scottish pipes wailing, and despite the musketfire poured into their flanks by a battalion of French Old Guard and cannister mowing down their front ranks, overran the French artillery in the center.

Meanwhile, on the far flank, Colonel Del Rio began to advance his infantry... however, he was under direct orders by Wellington NOT to attack... he was only to put pressure on the French Guard brigade in the orchard to ensure they did not swing to hit the British Guard brigade in the center of the field.

Both sides deployed skirmishers, and voltigeurs and Greenjackets fell on both sides of the fields.

Here is an overlooking shot of the field... you can see the Spanish on the left advancing downhill towards the orchard... and in the center and on the right, the British pressed the attack home.

In the center the Duke of Wellington galloped forward and, waving his hat, waved Colonel Smith's elites home.  The Highlanders crashed home, screaming their bloodthirsty warcries.

Finally both sides began to show weakness, as a battalion of French infantry broke at the center of the French lines, only to be quickly replaced by a battalion of converged Grenadiers.

The British, too, began to crack, and a battalion of infantry a the center of the line broke and ran, leaving a column of redcoats on their own in the center...

Colonel Del Rio, sitting on his horse, began to tap his fingers on his saddle impatiently... all of the glory being won on the far side of the field... and none for him?  Del Rio looked about and decided... to hell with his orders from Wellington to sit still; it was time for Spanish glory!  He waved his sword in the air, and his brigade plunged forward!

However, the French Guards in the orchard, sheltered behind stone walls and thick hedges, poured fire into the Spaniards, and the two brigades of Spanish militia began to waver, one breaking and running almost immediately, despite the angry screams of their Colonel.

So!  That is where we end off!  The British are pressing home a massive attack on the right flank, hoping their Guard's attack at the center can break the French lines... but the elite French infantry will do their best to stop them!  On the left the impetuous Spaniards have charged down the hill and suddenly find themselves in huge amounts of trouble... is it time for the British cavalry to attack?!

Thanks for coming by!

A few 15mm Cowboy games!

Hey all!

Well, a buddy of mine has put together a 15mm Cowboy collection... his goal is to redo his table for 15mm Wild West...

Now, he cannot take down his current 25mm ACW table quite yet, as he is hosting a game next weekend, but we DID spend Friday night playing a bit of Red Dead Redemption and also trying out a really early first draft of some cowboy shoot-out rules!

So, we ran two games in a little mock-up town with no real terrain or anything... just the buildings, and whammo!

Unfortunately, we didn't play it on a table with great light, so some of the photos didn't quite come out, but still, here are a few I can share!

Here is one of the cowboys in my buddy's posse galloping up the main street.  Each posse had three cowboys in it.  The trick is getting up and into some good cover with good line of sight... horses are perfect for that!

The cowboy dismounts and ducks behind some stairs, with a good line of sight down the street.

My own posse rides up the street, while my buddy measures out a movement for one of his guys.

As one of my guys leaps off his horse and ducks down between some steps, I run my guy with his shotgun up, with the idea of getting him to cover...

My third cowboy ducks behind a store with a few down the main street.

Ah... well, that didn't work too well.   Two of my buddy's cowboys, ducking behind some stairs on either side of the street (you can see just the hat of the second guy on the bottom-left of the photo) blasts my shotgun-wielding guy right off his horse!  Crap.

Meanwhile, my buddy rides up a side street and gallops around the corner RIGHT at my guy, who was lurking, watching down the street...

But just after HE gallops over, I run MY third cowboy (actually cowgirl) around the corner to blast at him!  She had actually been shot earlier, all of her stats were 1s at this point because of her injuries, and she had little chance of actually helping out, but...

Sure enough, no luck!  The guy at the corner, who whips around to fire at the guy on horseback, is actually shot in the back by a cowboy out of photo on the street.  My cowgirl opens fire at the guy on horseback but, with blood seeping down her jacket arm and a bullet lodged in her belly, her aim is off, and my buddy's cowboy whirls around and blasts her right out of her boots!

So that is it!  All three of my guys are dead (I felt especially bad for my guy with the shotgun who got shot right off his horse in the middle of the street... stupid me, I didn't think to check ranges!) and my buddy's posse is intact, although there are a few wounds.  It didn't help that his guys were MUCH better armed... stupid double-action revolvers.  We will be making a few changes:)

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Overall the games (I'll put the photos for the other game later) went real well!  There were some DRAMATIC moments (wait until the next game, where a pair of TOUGH fellows with sawed off shotguns end up about two inches from each other, blasting away!) and it seemed to work real well!

I also included in this post a shot or two of demos of the cards for the game I'm working on.  I've stolen a little bit from different rules, so some might look familiar.  It was fun!