Saturday the local HMGS-South group played a game of Black Powder at the Dogs of War shop. The ACW scenario was based loosely on the action at Fox Gap, South Mountain on September 14, 1862. The scenario was adjusted to accommodate the available 15mm units and the variable number of players expected to show up.
Two Union brigades look across the fields at the defending Confederate brigade
The Union objectives are the confederate position (upper right) and the road junction (lower right).
The left Union brigade moves out rapidly.
The Union advance on the left has stalled just inside the range of Confederate guns. The center brigade moves slowly through the standing corn.
A third Union brigade rushes down the turnpike to block an arriving Confederate brigade.
The center Union brigade advances rapidly to catch up with the left.
Marauding Confederate cavalry threaten the Union guns.
Union infantry charges into the Confederate position.
The left Union brigade losses three regiments and is broken. The center brigade tears a hole in the Confederate lines.
On the turnpike, troops of both sides extend the firing line as they come up.
After four hours of play we had to adjourn. The Union had managed to break into the Confederate position in the center, but with one Union brigade broken and the Confederates strongly holding the turnpike objective, we called this a Confederate win.
Saturday the local HMGS-South group played a game of Check Your Six at the Dogs of War shop. The 1/300 scale planes involved were:
3 B26
2 P38
4 P47
2 FW190
4 Me109
2 Me110
The bombers were to cross the table and bomb some military installations in France prior to D Day. None made it. Two 110s were lost. Two 109s and a 190 were damaged.
B26s escorted by P47s
…and P38s in the background
Me109s and 110s
The 110s felt a bit out of place in this fight.
FW190s
P38s
The target
P47s
The 109s slip right to get at the bombers and the P47 turn in to cover.
The 109s take out one bomber in their pass. 2 P47s split off to chase them.
An ace in a FW190 takes down another bomber.
The remaining 110 takes out the last bomber before being destroyed itself.
Last month the local HMGS-South group played a Rapid Fire scenario based on the action near Arendorff (25 miles SE of Berlin) on April 18-19 1945. Three Tiger-IIs of the 503rd Heavy Tank battalion (schwere SS-Panzer-Abteilung 503) and a collection of other units were attempting to cover the retreat of civilians by delaying the advance of the Soviet army.
The Russian forces moving in from the left need to take the bridges and fuel dump (upper right), and destroy any Tiger-IIs.
One or more of the IL-2s may attack each turn based on a die roll.
Mortars with little ammo and a group of armed civilians.
Dug in on the German right.
T-34s swarm across the bridges. The mortars try to destroy one of these bridges, but fail.
Russian infantry takes losses attacking the German right, but keeps coming.
Tiger-IIs moving to the fuel dump to refuel.
The German line on the right is overrun.
T-34s use point blank fire to clear the buildings on the German left.
The fuel dump is destroyed by German fire to deny it to the Russians.
Russian tanks have taken heavy losses on the German left, but there is little to stop the Russian infantry.
German fuel trucks are burning, but the Tiger-IIs escape.
The Russians received points for capturing bridges and the fuel dump, and for destroyed Tiger-IIs. The Germans received points for getting fuel trucks and Tiger-IIs out of town, and for destroying Russian tanks. The Russians got the bridges, but the fuel dump was blown and the Tiger-IIs and a few fuel trucks escaped. The game was close with the Germans winning on points.
Another play-test of the Star Trek fleet battle rules. The rules have been revised based on the observations made during play:
The extra hits for Federation DNs and CAs (representing overloaded photon torpedoes) should not occur at medium game ranges, since the table size dictates that most of the game will be played at those ranges. The extra hits now only happen at ranges of 6 or less.
The random squadron activation can result in one side firing most or all ships first. This can be a decisive advantage. Other activation schemes are included and need to be tested.
The firing from crippled ships, particularly when several are close together, needs to be reduced. For simplicity, this revision eliminates such fire entirely.
The Klingon C7 Light Dreadnought now has an extra hit on a roll of ‘6’ up to 6 hexes range, and no longer has a weak rear shield.
No more than 3 ships are allowed to fire on a single target in an activation.
The first of (hopefully) many 1/6000 scale WWI ships. These are Figurehead miniatures. In order to minimize the base length (and thus minimize the conflict between ground scale and figure scale) the cast bases provided by Figurehead are not used. The sheet styrene bases are 11 mm wide and 3-4 mm longer than the ship, which is offset to port to leave room for a label on the starboard side. Each base also has a 2mm diameter rare earth magnet embedded in it facilitate pickup and transport. Destroyers and torpedo boats are based 4 on a 30x25mm stand. Each stand will initially represent a flotilla, but that may be changed to a half flotilla if enough are eventually painted.
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