Thursday, March 26, 2020

Gaming in the Age of Corona

Last week, Bob & I were able to get in a game the day before our governor imposed a "shelter-in-place/quarantine" order due to the Corona Virus. We set up the "Along the Danube" scenario for Blucher, French vs Austrians. Below are some shots from our game.


 The French army deployed for the game. 


 The Austrian army deployed. It may not be clear in the photo, but the group on the left is on top of a large hill. The red disks in the background are objective markers. French control of both would cause the game to end immediately with a French victory.


 Another view of the Austrians deployed on the central hill. Bob outlined the crest of the hill with chalk.


 An Austrian Grenz brigade deployed in the far wood top left, and a view of the French far-left flank in the foreground (the wooden stick was the left flank table boundary). Note the labels on each brigade. We marked off losses directly on the labels using pens. However during the game, a better way of tracking casualties became evident that we will try in the future, namely casualty counters or markers instead of using pencil/marker to track casualties.


 An Austrian infantry corps defending behind a stream.


 The French slowly advance. The main error in our game was not using reserve movement. With infantry moving at 2 base widths maximum every turn, you can see in the photo above how many turns it will take to close with the enemy at the other side of the photo. If the French had used reserve movement, they could have advanced up to 12 base widths, or nearly all the way to the other side of the photo in a single move. A lesson learned. Reserve movement strategy is something players need to strategize about when deploying their troops in Blucher.


 Artillery fire: A French battery fires on an Austrian infantry brigade. I made the yellow template to assist with determining the firing unit center and 45 degree shooting/charging angles.


 Another view of the battle.


 The Grenzers are hiding in the woods from French Hussars & artillery.


 The French "Marechal d' Empire" urging his troops forward.


 The French slowly getting closer.


French infantry & cavalry. The infantry has a better look in two ranks of stands. If we want to do a larger battle, like Austerlitz, we can use a single stand of infantry per brigade if we do not have enough troops using 2 stands.

Unfortunately, the game turned into an artillery duel. The Austrians came off the worst, forced to retiring two infantry brigades whose elan had dropped to 1 each by artillery hits. Retiring a unit before all of it's elan is gone is a way of avoiding the unit being counted as destroyed for victory purposes. By the end of our game, nothing decisive happened. Most of the French guns had nearly expended their ammo, while the Austrian guns had a couple rounds/gun left. We will try it again after the quarantine is lifted.

Friday, March 13, 2020

Preparing to Play Blucher

My friend Bob & I are planning to play the introductory scenario for Blucher called "Across the Danube." I have been preparing some units for the game. The last time we played (over a year ago) we used a die to track losses in the game for each unit. I wondered at the time if there weren't a better way of tracking casualties & wanted to avoid using a roster system, if possible.

I came up with making labels for the Blucher units using MS-Excel that would affix at the rear of the stands. The labels are similar to the unit cards used in Blucher, and has all the information needed to play the game. I made the labels an olive green color so they would blend into the game-mat we would be using. The labels contain the nationality, unit name, traits, corps ID, elan, and movement rates on the label. Elan losses would be marked on the label with a pencil. We will see how this works.

I also decided we would use 2 stands of infantry to represent an infantry brigade instead of one. This meant I would need more stands of infantry to make brigades, but the units would have a better appearance. I instead of using a marker to indicate if a unit is "prepared" or not (prepared includes forming square), the rear stand of a 2 stand infantry brigade could simply be turned around facing the opposite direction like a unit in all-around defense to indicate "prepared."

 




Wednesday, March 11, 2020

More Recruits

I've been working on re-basing and varnishing about 114 painted French infantry in bicornes that I bought from friend Mike Zammuto. They are Victrix plastic figures that were organized for the Column, Line, & Square rules. I had to cut them from their plastic bases by trimming around the figure base & leaving a same-sized piece of the plastic base still attached. I used a wire cutter, which went surprisingly fast. I roughed up the base bottoms, then glued the figures to MDF laser-cut "Georgo" bases that I purchase from Games-Plus in Mt Prospect IL. I use wood glue, which is stronger than ordinary white glue. After drying 24 hours, I then covered the flock with "Future Floor Finish", an acrylic liquid which, when dry, turns the flock into a solid acrylic mass. I then varnished the figures using "Polyshades" polyurethane with a tudor brown tint. Below are the results.



The Polyshades give the figures a light shading similar to Army Painter, but much less expensive. I prefer a gloss finish, much like what famous British wargamer Peter Gilder's figures had. I have to terrain the bases next.

Thursday, March 5, 2020

New Recruits

I haven't posted in awhile because not much has been happening in my hobby. However, I just received some of my Casting Room 28mm 1805 Russians that I intend to use for Blucher, HFG (Horse, Foot, & Guns), and DBN. My friend Al Hulton painted these, and did a wonderful job. I just finished mounting them on 60mm X 30mm MDF bases, the artillery on 60mm X 60mm.

 Above are the Russians that Al has completed for me so far. 4 stands of artillery and 11 stands of infantry.


 Russian foot artillery. Licorne guns.


 Above are the Kursk Regiment (foreground), and the Old Ingermanland Regiment (Second row). Al painted the pompoms with the various battalion distinctives.


 Above is the Perm Regiment.


 Above is the Pskov Regiment (2 left stands) and the Archangel Regiment (2 right stands).


 A single stand of the Pavlovsk Grenadier Regiment. 4 more figures are pending.


 Rear view of the Pavlovsk.


Very impressive indeed. I have about 20 more figures pending.

I still need to terrain the bases (white glue, sand, paint, & flock) and add flags & poles. I have to obtain flags for the standard bearers from GMB Designs. 

I plan to use 2 bases of infantry per brigade for Blucher (which I hope will make the unit more aesthetically pleasing), while HFG & DBN use a single base for infantry brigades (though I suppose I could use 2 for them as well). I have also made labels for each brigade for Blucher, since that game requires maintaining a roster.