The first real 10mm Napoleonic Eye Candy!

Well... I thought I would throw most of the 10mm Napoleonics on the table for some photos with the new scenery!

So... enjoy!:D

Some 10mm Napoleonic money shots coming up...

Hi all!

Just a quick preview... I am setting up for a bunch of good, full-o-figures shots of the 10mm Napoleonics, and I figured I'd put up a quick photo as a teaser!  Here you can see the Guard emerging from the wood and the massive columns advancing towards the British positions...

10mm Forests How-To

Hi all!

Well, I thought I would post a quick "how to" for the 10mm forests I just finished!

Before I get started, let me say that I stole this idea from a mixture of two places; a little bit of Architects of War, and a bit more of the fellow over at 6mm ACW (whose name I forget but who is a very nice guy!)  So if you want to see some nice forests, go check theirs out!

So... first up, get yourself some black foamboard, and cut it out in roughly the shapes you want, like this:

I angle cut the sides as recommended in one of the "how to"s I read.  I also colored them black with a black sharpie so the GLOWING white doesn't show through!

I bought three times of foliage clusters at Fall In from the Architects guys... a dark green, a mid green, and a light green, and I tore it into clumps.  Remember; height doesn't matter that much, so you can make them THIN... but try to give them a little vertical variation in depth... after all, trees don't have flat tops:)

Then, using a hot glue gun, I glued clumps first around the edges, and then I filled in the middle.  I went through a LOT of hot glue in this phase:)

I then got some nice, flat-headed 1.5 inch roofing nails.  I flocked their bases...

... and then stuck them in the base of the forests!  It took a little experimentation to get them all level... but once they were (adjusting one at a time) I glued them in with a drop of Zapgap.

I then glop-painted them with some brown cheap paint to give them a little bit of texture, and then did some horizontal lines on them with a brown-grey mix to break them up a bit.  While they might not look AMAZING in the above closeup, you don't even really SEE the trunks when you are playing... the woods are simply too short.

So!  That is my woods:)  Guys DO fit underneath, and overall I think they bring a nice feel of scale to the table!

My new 10mm Forests!

 

Hey all!

Well, I finished my new 10mm Forests a week or so ago, and cleared off the ACW so I could post some photos of the new terrain "in action!"

So, here are the new forests, inspired by a few people including the folks over at 6mmacw and Architects of War, accompanied by some assorted 10mm Napoleonics (and one of my newest 10mm buildings) so you can take a look!

I'll post a "how to" soon enough:)  But thanks for coming by!

My newest 10mm Napoleonic Spanish buildings

Hi all!

Well, as I finished my new 10mm woods (I'll post pictures soon) I thought I would also finish a set of 10mm Spanish buildings that I had sitting, undercoated, ready to go!

I see it as maybe a small chapel, house, and outbuildings... maybe the nuns live in the house?  Who knows!  Regardless, I think it turned out pretty good (although the bushes actually need to be glued on still... forgot I hadn't done that yet!:)

My own "Longstreet" AAR!

Hi all!

Well, I played my second 1863 "Longstreet" campaign game yesterday, and thought I would report!

The first 1863 game went BADLY.  Very, very badly.  The two confederate commanders defending the walled farm got DESTROYED, although my army actually came through it in decent shape once all was said and done in the post-game process.  Plus, none of the photos came out, so no report from that one!

This one was an "Outflanked" game, and I won the Scouting roll (thanks in part to a Broken Code card I picked up in the last game.)  Below is the Army of the Carolinas coming into this fight.

The top shot of the blog is the layout.  There were two objectives I needed to take; a heavily defended house on one flank, and a signal tower on the other.  My Federal enemy (Augie) had a bit of a numbers advantage over me, but not a HUGE advantage.  I basically deployed my army in two parts; the two small infantry units and the tiny cavalry unit went over on my right flank (left side top in the first photo), to run interference and harass the enemy into defending the objective on that flank.  The rest of my army, including three large units of eager veterans (don't see THOSE that often in 1863, and certainly not three large units of them... thank you, "Hail to the Chief" card, two previous "CSA Replacement" cards, and low casualties on those units!)

Here are two of my big veteran North Carolina regiments, the 30th and 31st, advancing in line!

The artillery began to pound on each other, with my slightly larger Reb battery (two batteries, actually) getting a bit of an advantage in counter-battery fire.

Brigadier Christian K. Hurley receives an early report from a scout, while some hoity-toity politicians from Raleigh and Richmond come to visit and remind the General how much rides on this battle!

The Reb forces advance on the Federal defenders.  You can see my larger cavalry unit screening the right flank of the attack, and the 11th South Carolina about to advance into the woods, where their sharpshooters will give them a little advantage in skirmishing.

Meanwhile on the far flank you can see my tiny units of men advancing, while my Federal opponent is judging how much manpower to detach to deal with them.

My Rebs close the distance and begin to open fire.

The Raleigh Irregulars push through the woods to guard the flank of the 11th South Carolina.  You can see their Hero, Colonel Michael Laettner, leading the boys from the front.

The Confederate units get closer and closer and the two sides exchange fire.

Meanwhile the Federal commander begins to swing around his own left flank, hoping to catch my large attack in the side.

The Union troops did an excellent job firing and falling back and firing and falling back...

But my boys finally charged in, in an epic (and epic point gaining) charge, and threw those dastardly bluebellies back!

Meanwhile the Union door continues to swing, although slowly, and the Raleigh Irregulars did their best to hold the Union troops off of the flank of my attack!

The other flank was a real interesting situation... one Federal battalion was deployed to contest the signal tower, but the single unit was outmarched and out maneuvered by the two small Rebel units and the small group of Rebel cavalry, who actually swung all the way around and took the signal tower!

The three veteran Rebel units continue to push forward, as the beleaguered Federal line reforms in an attempt to hold steady.  I was having to REALLY balance my move and charge phases... I NEEDED to keep those tiny units on the far right moving, but at the same time I REALLY wanted to charge home on this flank before the Union hit ME in the flank!  There were some nervous moments!

Speaking of the right flank, that battalion of Federals tried to get to grips with my small groups of Rebels...

Finally my lines got close enough that I was able to pour in some huge volleys, and they REALLY did the damage (I rolled pretty well today, and the dice were not as kind to Augie.)  The two small units of infantry finally broke and ran as they were reduced to a single stand, and the Federal artillery was destroyed.

And that was it!  Augie had 18 casualties, and with two dice to roll to add to that it was inevitable that he would reach his break point.  Victory to the Army of the Carolinas!

The post-game phase was generally kind to me.  I lost a few stands to sickness, but not many.  My large unit of cavalry, the Raleigh Irregulars, DID become Reluctant even though they lost only a single stand.    The Rebel Cavaliers was a WELCOME addition, although my army now has THREE units of cavalry... and I don't love cavalry:)  The Raleigh Boys in particular will have to be used as a roadblock unit, as Reluctant cavalry isn't so great for attacking.  ANOTHER CS Replacement card (I've now gotten it THREE times, and I don't think there are THAT many in the deck!) was useful.  I ended up using my "See the Elephant" cards (I ditched the first one I got, thanks to my "Political Savy" personality card") for reinforcements, as I didn't really have any unit to make veteran, and I used the hero card for the same... so a bit of a boring post-game process, but whatever.

So... here is the Army of the Carolinas now!

I went ahead and did a bit more modeling on the army to reflect the changes.  I added dead to units that suffered combat casualties... one body for each lost stand.  I also did a bit more work to the flags, punching some bullet holes in them and tattering them up a bit more.  Finally I painted up some more browns and butternuts in the lines... the units certainly look more ragged now than they used to!

Here is the 30th North Carolina, an eight stand regiment of Eager Veterans.  I've got a lot of those!

Here is the 11th South Carolina, a six stand regiment of Eager Veterans, with a Hero (their Colonel) and Sharpshooters.

Compare their current state to the regiment at the start of the war!

Here is the 31st North Carolina, ANOTHER eight stand Eager Veteran unit!

BTW, here is a shot of the same regiment at the start of the war... note the difference.

I also have three batteries of artillery (one with a light rifle and heavy rifle, one with a Napoleon and a howitzer, and one with just a Napoleon) and three units of cavalry; the Greensboro Irregulars (eight stands of eager vets) the Raleigh Irregulars (six stands of reluctant vets) and the Asheville Irregulars (three stands of seasoned recruits.)

So... that is the latest from our "Longstreet" campaign!