Friday, May 30, 2014

The Battle of Shiloh - the Stubborn East Flank at Nashcon 2014

This last weekend I ran a game of John Hill's new rules "Across A Deadly Field" at Nashcon. The cool thing was that I ran the game with John Hill! Well, actually we both ran the game, but we also had support from Patrick Lebeau and Dean West. It was truly a team effort!

The historical situation involved the Rebel brigades of Chalmer, Jackson, Bowen and Statham slamming into the weak, and extremely strung out Federal extreme left flank at Shiloh held by the brigades of Stuart, McArthur, and Williams. The game was played in 28mm using 15mm buildings for ground scale.

John had a terrain mat printed, which is a great idea and a quick way to set up a game! Thanks John! He mailed it to me and I spent a hurried couple of weeks painting a few last units, making fences (about 1,000 toothpicks) and sanding down an insulation board to lay underneath the terrain mat to make 3D ravines.

The rules played fast and furious and we were able to play to a conclusion in a few hours. I really enjoy these new rules and they are definitely my new favorite rules for the ACW. They will be published by Osprey in July for release at Historicon. Here are a few pictures of the game:

Here is the table with all of the terrain ready, but no figures. 

The Rebs advance through the woods. Picture by John Hill.

One of the Federal players (Kermitt H.) studies his options.

The Rebs advance towards the Union position. ACWGamer.com  gave us some rulers to use for the game. Thanks!


The terrain mat had the names of key geographical features printed in it. It was great for observers and the players to use as reference points to explain the battle.

Dean West (with chart) explains the rules to some of the players.


The Rebs were able to drive the Yanks back to their base line and were declared the winner!


John Hill (left) looks over the battlefield.











Saturday, May 3, 2014

28mm Sash and Saber ACW Mounted Officers

I recently ordered some Sash and Saber figures from Chris Hughes. Chris is a great guy and sculpts S&S when he has free time from his full time sculpting gig at Old Glory. I ordered a pack of mounted USA officers, Gen. John Gordon and three packs of the 14th Brooklyn (1x command and 2x marching). The figures arrived in about a week, well packaged and with no damage. I was impressed with the sculpts and the customer service and will be ordering from Sash and Saber again. These are really great figs and I rank them right up there as "tied for first place" with Perry Miniatures ACW.  Here are some pictures:

The five mounted officers -  I ordered pack OUS20 - Mounted USA General Officers (4 figs). I painted them as CSA officers, except for one. Also pictured (left) is OCS1 - Gen. John Gordon.

I painted these specifically for a game of "Across A Deadly Field" at Nashcon 2014. I was short a few officers!

CSA Gen. John Gordon - pack OCS1 from Sash and Saber.

Observing Federal movements at Shiloh 1862.

Charge! 

A Federal officer. The farmhouse is by Perry Miniatures.


Another  mounted officer. I'm not finished with the 14th Brooklyn, but I'll post some pics as soon as I finish. Now I'm off to work on some terrain for the Nashcon game!