Hey all,Just a quick post; I was out of town for about a week visitng ye olde college roommate, so I've had no updates recently. Fear not, new ones are on the way, as soon as I A) finish that Napoleonic game and B) get painting again. Waiting on a set of Litko bases (man they take awhile it seems) to start maybe a unit of Austrian German troops too... So more coming soon!
A few days ago I had mentioned that I wanted to run a nice big playtest of my quick game "Muskets and Moustaches." I got through the first four rounds or so, and thought I would share!
The game was a game of Russians vs French. The Russians were deployed on the near table edge, with a smal ridge to their rear. On their left flank was a large field; in the center was an empty field, and on the right was a small hill and some thick woods.
The French were deployed on the far side. They had a clump of woods in front of them in the center, and empty ground to their left. To the right was a small farmhouse and a road lined with a stone wall.
The French began a general advance towards the Russians. They moved their artillery towards the hills in the rear, and their light infantry began to dash to the edge of the woods facing the empty field, preparing to pepper anyone 
who moved within range. On their left the Old Guard, supported by light infantry and a unit of Cuirassiers, began marching towards the woods, deciding it was better to advance through the woods using their three movement dice and being shielded from the Russian artillery than advance in the open without cover. On the French right, three columns of French infantry, supported by some Lancers, began to advance around the farm and towards the road.
The Russians sent their Guards forward to hold the stone wall on the edge of the field in their center, and began
to deploy troops into the plowed field on their left. The Russian artillery dashed forward on the far Russian right, but quickly realized that it would be too vulnerable to the approaching French light infantry and cavalry and so immediately turned and retreated, losing valuable time. The mass of the Russian infantry in the center began to form up in anticipation of the Old Guard coming bursting through the woods.
The opening rounds of the fight were fired in the center, where the Pavlov Grenadier Guards took the stone wall in the center of the field. However, the French light infantry opposite them on the edge of the woods proved to be fantastic shots (they rolled six 6s out of only 14 dice) and mauled the Pavlovs, who returned an ineffective fire. 
The French artillery finally made it to the hill and deployed to fire. On the French right, their columns of infantry made for the gap in the stone wall, intent on plowing through it and into the Russian position in true French style; columns for all! Their Lancer support made quick work of some Russian Hussars who moved into range; however, a second unit of Hussars spied the blown Lancers and started to gallop over... meanwhile, the Russian defences tried desperately to shore up, but even with the encouragement of their Colonel and fire of light infantry, the Russian columns ended up in a race to the thick hedges between them and the attacking French.
In the center the Pavlovs took more casualties and began to withdraw, as a second unit of Russian infantry took
up position on the wall. In order to stall the oncoming French some Russian cuirassiers made use of a nearby officers Command Dice and charged across the middle, crashing into a unit of French infantry. While the Cuirassiers were beaten back in disarray and galloped off in a panic, they killed and routed a good portion of the French infantry in the center.
Meanwhile, on the French left, the Old Guard continued through the woods. The French Cuirassiers managed to catch a unit of Russian infantry who had hurried up to protect the retreating artillery and smashed into the front of their column, causing a raft of casualties and the Russians fell back. Thankfully for the Russians they had hurried a regiment of Cuirassiers over to their right for support, and this cavalry pulled up, eying their French cousins across the field.
And so the fourth turn ended. The French attack on the Russian left is about to crash home, with three regiments in column about to join the fight. In the center the Russians have stubbornly held onto the stone wall, despite taking many casualties at the hands of the sharp-eyed French light infantry, and the 
fact that there may not be a French attack in the center at all! Meanwhile on the Russian right the Old Guard are about to burst out of the trees; however, with three regiments of Regular infantry waiting for them, can even the Guard take the field? I'll post up the next few turns after I've played them!
Hey all.
In anticipation of my next project, an army of 25mm Napoleonic Austrians, I decided to buy and test out a jar of Army Painter Quick Shade. This stuff is basically a can of stain that you dip your figures into (otherwise known as... a dip!) I got the Light Shade, as my Austrians will be largely in white.
I have a very large Warhammer Fantasty Middenheim army, which is a perfect test base because of how much white there is on the figures; I am undercoating an Austrian today to see how he turns out, but for now, here is how my old Empire guys look.
The basic paintjob is on the left. It is SUPER super basic; one color on most spots, a quick highlight on the blue, and that is it. Rather crappy, really.
The next two are after being dipped; the middle guy got shaken off five or so times, the rightmost guy got shaken off 2 times. I wanted to see how the look would change if I left them with a little bit more stain on them.
I think they turned out very nice; I am excited to paint up an Austrian army. In the meantime I'll take care of my Empire army, and then sell it off. If anyone is interested, let me know!
To get the original rules, click here
Well, as always I have found a ton of problems, changes, and mistakes. I'll keep them listed here until I put together V2!
1. When a unit has only two stands left, it may count as any formation for no costs to change formation; however, it must be in a final formation at the end of the move phase; no fair switching from column to line in the middle of the shooting phase and back to column for close combat!
2. A unit can turn up to 180 degrees on a successful move test, not 360 (stupid.)
3. On the movement on page 11, note that the Unlimbered movement penalty should be -2, not -1 inch. It is correct everywhere else.
4. In Close Combat, if a unit is attacking the flank of another unit it gets +1 on its hit rolls.
5. Units may defend against multiple enemies in a single Close Combat phase; just do all the rolling at once.
I'll add more when I get to them, and eventually with the input of you all I'll put together V2.
Thanks!
Hello all!
Well, I am finally going back through my ACW rules set that I created last year and revising it with Napoleonics in mind. It is a VERY simple rule set, based on just a handful of dice and no record keeping, that is in a way just an excuse to move toy soldiers around. However, it also "works" pretty well! So when I finish going through it I might ask if anyone wants to give it a look and critique! Each section will have the rules in it, and then an "example" section giving examples of the rules in action.
Just because it is nice, it will also be fully illustrated. I included a photo above from the "Movement" section.
I think I'll be done in a few days, and will post here when I finish!
Just thought I would throw up a few newer photos... put a few more units on the table, got rid of the overall Generals and put a wing commander in charge, and added a few more
larger trees... so far, so good. Next on the agenda; a few more of the larger trees, making some more stone walls, putting together another building, and DEFINATELY get some more hedges.
I'll post more as I go!
Well, the 15mm ACW stuff has been up for a long, long time. While my finest scenery is obviously for that collection, I was beginning to tire of the little guys... or more specifically, I was beginning to get a jonsing for some 25mm Napoleonics!
So! The 15mm ACWs went into the cabinets for display, and a few 25mm Napoleonic figures began to find their way to the table!
Now, it will take a while before I have enough 25mm scenery to really make this look right. I found a few hedges I could use, and figured out how to make
some decent rock walls out of cork. However, I still need a bunch more trees, and I need more buildings. More hedges are a MUST, of course, and proper fields. Damn... there is a LOT left to make... but having it all set up will be good incentive.
So, to the pictures. For now, I have not put many figures out; I want to keep
this small while I figure out my scenery. For the French they have a single unit of ligne, a single unit of Guard, a stand of light infantry, an artillery piece, and the general. Obviously I have a LOT not on the table!
The Russians have even less on the table. They have one unit of infantry and a half a unit of Pavlov Grenadiers to do the heavy lifting. I also gave them a single stand of light infantry. The Russians also have a single stand of light cavalry and a single stand of 
cuirassiers to help them against the French force. The Russian general is on the table as well, to act as their commander! I might take the two generals off, however, and replace them with wing commanders (on foot,) as the overall Generals being on the table seems like overkill for such a small display!
So, that is that for tonight. I'll continue working on this table for a while to come... I love having summers off!
I recently re-flocked the base of my little house that I made for Warhammer ages ago so that it would match my table. I am DESPERATE for 25mm scenery at this point, and I think I'll take some time off from 15mm stuff in order to put together some 25mm stuff. Anyway, enjoy these two shots.
Hello all!
First off, my deepest apologies for not keeping regular updates in the last month; I was just finishing work, and it took a LOT of time!
However, I now have two months off, so expect a return to regular updates!
I figured a good place to start would be another installment in my 15mm ACW Showcase; in this case, my Confederate artillery!
In a trick I stole from a buddy, I decided to mix up the colors of the pieces for my Southern artillery. Rather than have all black artillery pieces, as I do for my Federals, I find that the different colored pieces really help emphasize the "rag tag" look of my reb army.
I of course mixed in a few red kepis (although probably too many to be realistic for late war, but whatever, they are toy soldiers after all) to keep the artillery look. Overall I think they turned out very nice. Each piece has its own limber as well, to transport it into battle.
As with all my 15mm ACW, these fellows are from Battle Honours.
Howdy all!
