10mm Nap. British - Rifles

Finally... the unit we've all been waiting for!

Next up in the line of 10mm British Napoleonic troops is the famed British Rifles, or Greenjackets. Made most famous, of course, in Cornwell's "Sharpe" series, the Rifles were armed with the revolutionary Baker rifle. The rifled barrel made the weapon far more accurate than the standard smooth bore musket, but also complicated reload times. While the British did use the rifle, Napoleon largely ignored it, sticking to the easy-to-use musket for sheer weight of fire.

These guys are mounted four to a stand (five in the case of the command stand with bugle.) They are thrown out in front of the British lines to pick off French officers and generally disrupt enemy formations.

Some more 10mm Napoleonic table shots

Hey all!

Thought I would throw up some more 10mm Napoleonic shots.

I have, as I mentioned, looked at the table again and moved some stuff around. Now there are two main parts of the field.

On one end the British Allies defend the flank. There is a dense wood on one side, next to a walled chateau. The Allies have taken up position in front of this wood and in the orchards of the chateau, waiting for a French assault.

In the center is another heavy wood. The British have sent some men into the woods, as French skirmishers prepare to push into the woods on the other side.

On the far side of the woods the land opens up, with wheat fields following the gentle contours of the land. The British line waits for the French attack, which pushed forward but then had to halt and form square as British cavalry pushed towards them. The French cavalry was caught a bit flat footed and needs to get out to rescue the French squares, which are getting hammered by British artillery. A second French attack is preparing, which includes the Guard... Napoleon will defeat his British enemies with the Grumblers if no one else pulls through!

Reworking the 10mm Napoleonics...

Hello all!

First off, let me apologize for SUCH a long absence! I've been spending most of my free time working on the video game DungeonCrawler, and so have not had a chance recently to update the blog as much as I'd like! However, I thought I would get a few more table shots up, since that is what folks seem to like!

So... I did some big adjustments to the current table! I didn't mess with the elevations any, as I have so many guys on the table it would be a pain to move the underlying pieces around... a shame, but what can you do:) I did move a bunch of fields, moved the chateau, added some woods, and did some general movement... the main set up now consists of a French attack being hit by cavalry and being forced into square, as the rest of the French army begins to move to the attack...

Anyway... I'll have more in the next few days!

Some DungeonCrawler screenshots...

Hey all!

Thought I would put up a few DungeonCrawler screenshots...

The one on the right is entitled "A Walk Through The Shire." You can actually see a small cabin in the woods to the south east, a lovely looking place in the Old Forest.

The screenshot to the left is entitled "I think I'll wait on Dol Guldur..." Notice the creepy yellow eyes watching you through the leaves, and the spiderwebs strung between the trees! You might notice the next thing we are working on adding in a very early stage...

Hope you all enjoy!

Just so folks know, there is a lot of work being done... already we've worked in AI so monsters don't get in your way, some skill work, and an inventory dummy so you can "see" your gear on your body!

There will be more coming, of course... so please do stick around and give us a chance!

Download DungeonCrawler for FREE!

Hello all!

Whelp, my friend and I have finally released the first public version of DungeonCrawler!

This hack'n'slash dungeon crawl game harkens back to the good old days of gaming and to the simple addictive games like NetHack, where we all spent hours building up a badass character, and rejoiced at finding a +3 mace or a Book of Smouldering Grasp, all with the added bonus of being set in Middle Earth!

So... adventure through Fangorn forest, hack the enemy down in Osgiliath, visit the dwarves in the Iron Hills, or even hunt down the Balrog in Moria... come download version 1 of Dungeoncrawler for free!

The forum for DungeonCrawler, which includes links for download, a game guide, and the rest, is found here:

http://ntwgg.proboards26.com/index.cgi?board=dungeoncrawler

This is a very early alpha, and ALL suggestions, recommendations, comments, and bug reports are VERY welcome.

Thanks so much all, and good luck slaughtering the orcs of Mordor and spiders of Mirkwood... or, if you wish to serve the Eye, hobbit gardeners and the elves of Rivendell!

10mm Nap. French - Artillery 1

Time for another Unit Showcase!

This time I am going for another piece of the 10mm Napoleonic collection.

This is a unit of 12lb French cannon and their limbers and commander. These guns, among the heaviest used on land, could hit troops many hundreds of yards away, and within a few hundred yards could mow them down with canister shot. The limbers would sit behind the guns a ways, and contained ammunition, some of which would actually be transported in a separate caisson. The crew look dashing in the blue uniforms, and the red is a nice highlight for them! I really like the crew figures, as they are well detailed and their kits are pretty complete!

Book Review - "Brothers Divided"

Time for book review #2!

I recently received in the post a copy of Scott Mingus's new book, "Brothers Divided," a book of tabletop skirmish scenarios from the Gettysburg campaign. Having adored his Human Interest Stories of Antietam, I was very curious to see how his writing held up in a wargaming book!

The book is a collection of eight wargaming scenarios, primarily of the skirmish variety, designed ideally for Brother Against Brother but also suitable for any other system. It begins with some background information about the Gettysburg campaign, and then has the various legends (map, Order of Battle, and formations.) The book then gives the background story, forces, map, and scenario details for each scenario.

The first thing any wargamer will notice about the book is the sheer good-lookingness of it. So many damned wargames books are printed only in black and white and feature NO eye-candy. If I want to read dense tables of numbers and boring-ass text with no photos, I'll read the WSJ. I'm a wargamer! I want to see great photos and neat layouts! Thankfully "Brothers Divided" is in color, is heavily illustrated, and is simply chock FULL of functional eye candy. The OOBs are simple and beautiful; as you can see in the photo to the right, they are large, illustrated, and clear, with no chance to use pictures instead of text missed. The scenario layouts are not the boring boxes that most wargames maps use... instead, individual figures are nicely illustrated, and things such as casualties are marked as well.

As I mentioned, each scenario starts with a page of well-researched background story and, facing it, an OOB and game notes. The text is nicely laid out and simple to read, and the background stories add a bit of character and historical perspective to the scenarios. There are color photos scattered throughout the book, which simply add to the already-high number of enjoyable things to look at. A funny note; some of the photos are courtesy of John Mayer and feature his beautiful scenery and figures (see the photo to the left) all of which now belong to a rather close friend of mine! It was funny to see the scenery in the book and think 'Wait a second, I've played with that scenery!'

After each scenario breakdown you get the maps. The maps are very detailed and, again, quite nice to look at... anyone who enjoys looking at toy soldiers will devour these as well! Elevations are cleary marked, as are troop formations, and all relevant map data is clearly printed to either side of the maps. Very clear, and more importantly to me nice to look at, they look simply like 2-D dioramas, which any wargamer will appreciate. Scenarios are nicely varied and include a number of interesting sub-plots, such as stopping a train before it leaves the station or capturing the telegraph agent. One side or the other generally starts off-table and has to move on, which adds to the feeling of a larger battlefield.

This text is great to read just for fun, and a definite treat for anyone who is interesting in playing ACW skirmish games. While intended for 28mm, the scenarios could be quickly modified for a larger or smaller scale without too much issue. Overall, and given the reasonable price, it is a definite buy, especially if you game ACW!

For more info on "Brothers Divided" by Scott Mingus, you can see his website HERE.

15mm ACW - Federal Artillery

Time to get back to the 15mm ACW roots!

Here are two pieces of Federal artillery. A few of the men have stripped down to their shirtsleeves... artillery work is hot and unforgiving! I made sure to leave the shirts and men pretty dirty looking, as artillery work is also very messy, and I want these guys to look pretty grimy. Unfortunately Battle Honors only has one set of officers so the commanders of each gun are of the same mold as my infantry officers, but they look good nonetheless.

Figures by Battle Honors.

Another set of 10mm Napoleonic photos

Howdy all!

Well, the poll on the blog says that people enjoy table shots, so I figured I would take a few more of the current set-up.

At the top, obviously is a shot of The Man himself. I haven't yet done a Unit Showcase (TM) on the French command, but I will at some point. Until that point, I hope this shot is satisfying enough!

But let's face it, the fun photos are the big mess ones!

I have two attack photos here, both of the French attacking. In the first (taken from the British left flank of the current set up) the skirmishers have just come into contact with each other... the infantry has yet to make it into musket range. You can see behind the attacking French columns that the Guard await their turn...

On the other side is the second attack on the British right flank, or more accurately on the British allies, in this case the Brunswickers. The first French attack collapsed and broke; you can see the regiments in the background in panicked disarray... however, a second wave is pressing home... will they manage to break the British line?

The final shot is of the chateau, where the Old Guard have swarmed the walls of the orchard and are now trying to push the redcoats out the back side. However, the British have brought up a lot of infantry, and it will be a difficult fight for the Old Guard to win! If they do, the British line is split in two!

So... if there are more specific shots people want to see, just let me know and I can set something up!

Spacehulk!

The wife, amazingly, recently agreed to try out the old GW game "Spacehulk," and amazingly, she has enjoyed it! She is normally not one to join in the toy soldier fun, but so far, she is game, so I'll milk that as long as I can!

This shouldn't be a surprise, of course. Spacehulk is a very simple and yet VERY enjoyable game. I bought two sets and the expansions back in the day, and a friend added another of the newer sets, so we are able to make some truly monstrous Hulks. The wife is still new to the game, so we have stuck to one squad missions so far, although in the next game we'll go for two!

Our second mission was a simple one; kill 30 stealers before they kill all of the marines! The wife quickly got her marines moving to try to hold only two rooms... however, the marines are awful slow, especially when compared to stealers! One unlucky Marine almost didn't make it, but six command points helped speed him on his way, as his sergent was clearly yelling "MOVE MOVE MOVE!"

Once the marines were in place, the stealers simply swarmed into the halls. One side was held by two marines with storm bolters and another with an assault cannon. The other hall was held by the sergent and another marine.

And then the stealers came! They flooded the hallway in front of the assault cannon, working through his ammo, and when he had to pause to reload they swarmed into the room! More than 20 stealers fell before they finally got close.

The sergent, hearing the "Out of ammo!" call from Marine Moratin with the assault cannon, quickly turned and began to hightail it for the other room. As soon as he moved out, the second swarm attacked!

They made a beeline for the second room, as the Marine there held on, and as the Stealers swarmed into the first room. Marine Moratin clubbed down one stealer with his ammo-less assault cannon, and the rest of the marines fired away, but they were quickly overwhelmed as both marines stormbolters jammed!

However, all was not lost. As the marines in the northern most room fell to the endless swarms of stealers, Marine Driscol kept up a constant fire, cutting down stealers as they swarm... 27... 28... 29...

And then, as the stealers got close, their slavering jaws snapping, skittering along the walls and through the explosions, Driscol steadied his aim and brought down the 30th stealer! Victory to the marines!

We did continue fighting, and amazingly in the very next turn a pair of untimely jams were followed by swarms of stealers cutting down the surviving marines... however, the Deathwatch held on long enough for their compatriots in other parts of the hulk to get their job done!

Featured in the last photo are the two marines who won distinctions in this mission; Marine Moratin, who earned a yellow cross to acknowledge his 14 kills, and Marine Driscol, whose kill won the mission for the space marines and won him a Worthy Action distinction... and to top if off, Driscol was one kill away from a yellow cross as well! Oh well... next time!