Wilsons Creek

As I was home alone for a few hours, I did something I haven't done before and had a solo game. As its the 150th anniversary of the start of the American Civil War, I played the Wilsons Creek battle from the Civil War Battles rule book. Of course all figures, buildings, dice and most of the fence from Peter Pig.

For those interested here is the WkikLink

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Wilson%27s_Creek

The battlefield. The Union have one brigade in the farm halfway up on the left and 3 brigades on 'Bloody Hill' halfway up on the right. The Rebs have 4 brigades inbetween the two (in the teddy bear fur in the centre), and 2 brigades below the stream (Wilsons Creek). The objectives are the farm and the hill. The rebs are hampered as the stream is not fordable and the only crossing is via the road. Its a tough scenario for the rebs who although have superiority in numbers are under fire from front and rear.

The Rebs massed for assault on Bloody Hill. Only the right hand unit survived the game and they retired into woodland to their rear. In fact the rebs lost 5 of their 6 brigades with the Union not losing any.

Here the Union charged the rear of a Reb brigade who showed great elan and saw them off. Weight of numbers told in the end though and things ended badly for the rebs.

Game end with the rebs massacred!

Scenary is S&A, Terrafirma and GW plus some teddy fur and other bits of felt template.

My conclusion of solo play is its better than not playing and a break from painting. I may do it again with another period next week. At the club tomorrow night. No game planned, but I may take something down in case anyones up for it.

Wilsons Creek

Something different now. A solo game, if for now other reason than to get some toys out. I had a free afternoon with an empty house and so seen as its the year of the 150th anniversary of the start of the American Civil War i chose the first scenario from Civil War Battles, Wilson Creek whihc took place during August 1861. Rather than bore you with an account for those interested heres the WikiLink

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Wilson%27s_Creek

As per usual the game was played using Peter Pig figures. I have never played solo, and wouldn't like to make a habit of it, but for an occasional one of it was alright. It was suprising how rules slip your mind despite being very familiar with the rules. Anyway some pictures are in order.

The battlefield. Union positions are a brigade in the farm halfway up on the left and 3 birgades on the hilss halfway up onthe right. These two features are the objectives. The Rebs are in the middle of the two in the teddy bear fur (no in game significance just for show.) The Rebs also have two brigades below the river which is unfordable so can only be crossed by the road ford.

Mid game action with the Rebs being attacked from fromt and rear. It is a tough game for the Rebs and I tohught it was over after the first turn when they lost two brigades trying to take the hills.

This shows the Reb brigades. They were unable to make any headway on the attack for the hills. The right hand brigade is the only one that survived.

This is at game end with a Reb brigade massacred from all sides.

The Last Post

Likely for this year...

Well a bit of an up and down year personally and wargaming wise. Not near as much wargaming but understandable in the circunmstances. Via the joy that is the Smart Phone, I have managed to keep abreast of what has been going on in the industry and on the various forums across the net. But actual painting and gaming has been what might be termed as a 'fail'.

January and February and this past month have seen some productivity with AWI being the main theme. Peter Pig have now around 65 packs in the range and now includes Hessians. Somewhat impatiently, unable to resist some Friekorps 15 Dragoons, I have now painted a unit of 17th Dragoons for my British and the 3rd Conitnental Dragoons for the Yankees. Should Peter Pig release some then they will be replaced. I do have the Peter Pig Dragoons in Tarleton helmet which will be painted as British Legion and 4th Continental in due course.

Recentley released are Continental Line wearing hats. These will be painted as 2nd New Hampshire for the Yankees but I will also paint a unit of Loyalists, probably in a green coat. I'll probably end up with more units than fought in the real thing, but at least I'll have plenty of choice.

I'll end now. If chance I'll put up a full review of 2010 and list some hopeful plans for 2011.

More soon...

Painting

Yes I am painting again. Sorted out the painting station. I have made the ground breaking decision that all the paints I use most frequesntley will be stored together in a small box so I dont have to scrabble around each session and waste valuable time.

I must have around 200 pots of paint, maybe more. But of those, I use half a dozen on most figures I paint. Black, white, leather brown (Cote d' Arms colour)almost all browns, chainmail, flesh and buff. At the moment I am painting AWI, so reds and blues are also in the mix. The blue is GW's Ultramarine blue which I am using for Continental's. I use the same blue for my ACW Union, which when coated with Army Painter Dark Shade, comes out just right. Years ago I would agonise over getting the right shade of blues or reds or similar. Now, so long as it comes somewhere close I really dont mind. The red I use is I think called scarlet red from Vallejo. Using the Army Painter means I need a bright red otherwise it gets lost under the dark shade.

My mojo is definately returning. I am currently crossing my fingers that a new project may be coming my way at the end of the week. I wont say anymore until the deal is done. I am also thinking of getting the table set up and playing a few solo games just to keep me ticking over until the new year when I may get to the club or play some mid week games.

The AWI range at Peter Pig has grown nicely over the last few months with more Militia types as well as ragged continentals and now the Hessians! Trenton anyone?

Peter Pig are currently in the midst of playtesting a new version of Squarebashing which Martin has graciousley involved me in despite my lack of time to contribute to. Intriguingly listed as the game for Salute is Hammerin' Iron. At Warfare speaking to Nigel he let slip that a revision of Hammerin' Iron was in the works. So, its looking promising for the new year. I've also been having hankerings for Pieces of Eight action.

Went to see the new Harry Potter the other day. Very good, but quite dark and gritty in places. And, as I am only on book 4, the story is a bit lost on me. But recommended nonetheless.

Next some pictures coming as once again I promise to increase the photographic content of the blog.

More soon...........

News

Well with one thing and another, wargaming has taken a back seat. Ava is now 11 weeks old and doing well, though full of cold at the moment. Sleep deprivation hit a few weeks ago now and myself and Lisa seem to run on one notch above exhausted most of the time.

With the news of Martyns death on Monday, coming on top of other bad news in the family and work being more hectic than ever I have struggled to find the time or motivation for anything other than the occasional browse on the internet. I did get down to Warfare last weekend and had a short chat with Nigel and Julie on the Peter Pig stand. I picked up a couple of packs of the Tatty Continentals and some of the Rebs in Civilian hats. Not sure when they'll see a paint brush though. It was a very enjoyable day, with John B drinving us down giving us chance to catch up on each others news and discuss wargaming ad infinitum. Once there we met up with Keith and Ade. It was great being with good friends for a few hours sharing each others company.

I was VERY close to cracking and investing in TSS terrain tiles for my home set up. I resisted mainly due to the fact in 5 months at the new house I have played 1 game (**cough** warhammer **cough**). But I am still considering it. Storage is an issue but with a dedicated room it is less of a problem.

Some light at the end of the tunnel though. We are getting into the semblance of a routine with Ava in bed from 8pm and typically waking around midnight. Lisa is usually too pooped to stay awake past 9pm. So I am looking at 9pm-11pm as a window of opportunity for some 'hobby' time.

I did manage half an hour or so this afternoon but I am just not organised in my new painting space. I am in the middle of painting markers for Washingtons Army and was looking at adding white straps/ haversacks to the figures. Unfortunatley it took 10 minutes to find my white paint and then a few more to find a decent brush which dampened my enthusiasm some what!

I was due down in Weymouth this weekend but with Martyns death and other matters on my mind I couldn't face the 4 hour drive. A real shame as I love the battle days Stewart Meecham puts on and Martin is always happy to accomadate me for the night. Hopefully come the first one next year I will be raring to go and in a better frame of mind.

The Stoke Wargames group held its AGM a couple of weeks ago. To be honest with the policy of paying a yearly sub of £150 with no weekly payment option I was seriousley considering leaving. The amount was really the issue (though it is a lot of money). It is the fact that with my shifts and now Ava in our lives, 1 or 2 visits a month would be the norm. With an absolute maximum of 24 visits costing me £150.00, I feel the money could be better spent elsewhere.

So, when it was agreed to up the cost to £160.00 due to falling membership I was even more doubtful I would be renewing. Then the option of £5.00 a week was mooted for occasional visitors, which i would class myself as. John B later suggested £40 up front for 12 visits which appeals even more. So I will remian a member of the club and feel I am getting some value for my money.

Hopefully I may be able to post up some more content on here over the coming months now I feel some of my mojo returning. Fingers crossed.

More soon...

Martyn Smith RIP

A really difficult post for me to type. Martyn Smith shown above on the right shaking hnads with Keith, passed away last night after a long battle with cancer.

I know that all Stoke Wargames Club members both past and present are tonight thinking of Martyn and the good times they shared with him. I have mentioned him before in this blog. Martyn was a constant friend and wargaming companion over the last 20 years. We travelled the length and breadth of the country with him visiting shows (often getting lost along the way). The games at his house either in his garage or dining room were legendary. He had a propensity for buying and painting armies and then selling them to fund a new period. His knowledge of militairy history was vast and you could always rely on him having the answer for some obscure fact whether it be on Ancient campaigns or German tanks. And everything inbetween.

To my knoweldge he never spoke badly of anyone and I know for a fact everyone who met him found him to be a genuine, friendly, funny character and a pleasure to be around. Countless are the times when standing around a table we have been doubled up with laughter, unable to speak with tears running down our faces. He was a genuinely nice bloke.

He wasn't bad at wargaming either. He earned the nickname 'Six Smith' for his uncanny ability with a D6. He won the inaugural club Warhammer tournament in splendid style using a Vampire Counts army to thrash the previousley all conquering Lizardmen army in the final. We always knew things were going well when he would gaze at the table, rubbing his his hands together so fast he could make fire. Personally I lost far more games against him than I won, but each one was memorable and I shall always cherish my memories of each encounter.

We last gamed together at Mark Whites house on 4th August 2010, playing on the same side in a 15mm Napoleonic thrash (Martyns favourite word for a good game) up against Tim and Baz. It was like rolling back the years to my first time at the club.

Martyn can be seen below in the middle, on form as usual.

Well, I've so much to say, but I am unable to do justice to it at the moment.

Rest in peace old lad.

Sculpting miniatures

My first attempt at sculpting is a bit bigger than 15mm. This is Ava Georgia Grace Clark was born by elective cesarian section on 7th September 2010 at 11:09. She weighed in at 7lb 9oz. Mother and baby doing well, dad is knackered.

Wargaming is taking a bit of a back seat understandably for a bit. I'm still snatching the odd painting session but actual gaming will be limited.

On 5th September I helped run the Washingtons Army participation game at Partizan with Martin Goddard. I had a great day introducing the game to new players including 3 from my neck of the woods, Rod Paul and Dave, who seemed to enjoy their game. I also picked up a load more AWI figures from Peter Pig which should keep me going until Christmas. Of course any new releases that arrvive will be snapped up in due course.

This year has been a bust one with a house move, change in role at work and now baby. All ontop of turning 40. The blog has suffered as a result. I will try and update periodically but I dont expect much content to be added for the foreseable future.

More at a later date!