Historicon '03
Historicon '01
Cold Wars '01
Fall In! '00
Historicon '00
Cold Wars '00
Fall In! '99
Historicon '99
Cold Wars '99
Fall In! '98
Historicon '98
Historicon '98
Ancients
Pictures
Medievals
Pictures
Renaissance
Pictures:
Napoleonics
Pictures
World War II
Pictures
The Winner of the 1998 Ironman - Jeff Sutherland
No report available.
Fall In! '98
John Grimes had the baton this time and he ran a grueling
5 gameboard game covering every conceivable battle type from Swamps, to
town fights, to trenches, Cav, and of course the Naval War. We had 22-23
people engaged (Thanks to Pete B. finding them in the hallway) and we went
until 6 AM, at which time we through the drunken idiots off the Cav board.
Overall the game was very successful and people seemed to enjoy themselves.
The Battle of Raab, May 1809:
Jeff Kimmel and Scott Landis ran this Napoleonic event of about 10 players using the Shako rules. The game had few little start up problems, but eventually we got moving and things seemed to go o.k..
The battle featured an impassable (to Cav and Artillery) stream facing the French and the Austrians defending two hills, a town and the fortified Kis-Megyer farm. The Austrians and Hungarians under Archduke John fielded four Infantry and two Cavalry divisions of mixed quality against Prince Eugene's Army of Italy with five Infantry and two Cavalry divisions. The French Cavalry could force a crossing of the Pancza Stream on the far right flank where they faced inferior quality and quantity Austrian Cavalry. The French maneuvered their considerable infantry forces for a few turns then began the assault on the Austrian position, aiming at the Austrian right flank.
The Austrian Cavalry put up a valiant struggle but finally were broken and routed from the field but not before the converged Grenadiers could form up in square to hold the Austrian left. The battle on the Austrian right was a slug match as the the large divisions collided and the Austrians began to slowly give ground. The French finally forced the Austrian division holding the right flank to retreat from the hill and town as the French reserves, the Italian Royal Guard, began its assault on the Kis-Megyer farm. As the French infantry reformed to attack the central hill, their Cavalry swept around the flank of the Grenadiers and broke into the Austrian rear area, bringing the game to a conclusion.
Cold Wars '99
The Rogues combined their efforts to bring the Massacre to the fortifications of Vicksburg this time. The table was laid out in a large "H" configuration with the town of Vicksburg at one of the intersections. A seperate table was used for the naval battle as the Union Marines attempted to land and bring fresh supplies to Grant's army. At the other intersection, a large Confederate relief force was attempting to break through to Vicksburg's hard pressed garrison. Approximately 30 people showed up to play and everyone got involved.
The battle opened with Sherman's Corps attacking from the North and MacPherson's Corps attacking from the South while two more Union Corps tried to decide what to do. One of these Corps turned around to fight the relief force while the other Corps.... sat and did pretty much nothing for several turns before finally getting underway to attack the Eastern breastworks.
Vicksburg itself was under nearly constant bombardment by Union gunboats and Confederate shore batteries did their best to reply, sinking and damaging several Union vessels. The river battle was eventally won by the attackers and the Marines landed south of Vicksburg, reinforcing Macpherson's successful assault into the Confederate fortifications. Meanwhile, Sherman's Corps impaled itself on the breastworks to the north, losing 6 out of 10 brigades, one division commander killed and another captured, while causing little or no damage to the defenders. The relief force was stopped in its tracks and never came close to Vicksburg.
In the end, the successful assault from the south combined with the naval action ensured a Union victory despite the horrendous casualties suffered by Sherman. At 5 in the morning the clean up started and a good time was had by all.
Pictures
Pictures
Historicon '99
We congratulate Joe Urbank, Jr. for sticking out the gruelling two days of the Ironman, the only player to participate in all 6 games!
Ancients Game 1
Rules: Chipco's Fantasy Rules! (Modified for Ancients)
GM: Michael Panzer, Scott Landis
In the quiet lowlands of Europe the Romans have established
a fort to protect their Northern interests but the Germanic led Celts
and Gaul's have other ideas. Can you achieve a great victory? Or just
GRIND this outpost down to a historical footnote? Romans have come to
stay! Will they? Can they? You decide the fate of the Empire's northern
boarder!
The Romans held the field and their fort. The Celts will be looking for sleeping accomidations elsewhere.
Pictures
Medieval Game 2
Rules: Days of Knights
GM: Bob Varas, Tony Iglesias
The Pope is back and he's pissed....Money is drying up
to
keep him in the Papal finery that he requires, so His Holiness along with
his Army of truth head north to collect back taxes from the wayword
flocks. Unfortunately the flock have more than one sheepdog to mind
them!!! Treachery, deceit and downright lies bring new meaning to the
Wrath of God!!!
The Papal forces dispatched the insurrectionist forces.
Pictures
Renaissance Game 3
Rules: Voerlorn Haufe
GM: Greg Markert, Kurt Kramer
Gustavius, Tilly, Wallenstein, Pappenheim are all dead.
A resurgent Russia
enters the war blocking the way through Prussia and Saxony. In desperation
the Swedes turn west toward the promise of safety in Protestant Holland.
The Roi sits firmly on the fence waiting to settle with Austria once and
for all. The Saxons want to go home. Sweden gambles on one final
victory to unite with France to crush the empire. With the giants dead,
mortals
decide the fate of Northern Europe. Lots of exausted, thread-bare pikemen,
matchlocks, Croats, Cossacks, Saxons rugby scrumming in the low countries.
...and of course the freakin' French.
Post Game Report:
The Empire won the Ren Game, as the Swedes froze at the
moment of victory
allowing one Imperial Regiment to attack against 5 to 1 odds and win, thereby
collapsing the Allied center.
If Gustav wasn't dead at the start of this one he would be now......
Pictures
Marlborough Game 4
Rules: House Rules
GM: Pete Bentivenga, Tony Iglesias
Join Louis' Grande Army as they try to divest Marlborough
and
his Dutch cronies from the fair town of E'Sprouts. Louis has a hunger for
some Belgian Waffles and he can't stomach eating them with the British in
town. The seige is on and the townsfolk have bolted so it's just the
armies battling it out to see who's blood runs red in the river.
The French succeeded in beating the crap out of the British.
Pictures
Napoleonic Game 5
Rules: Modified Shako (Modifications can be seen here)
GM: Jeff Kimmel, Scott Landis
June 19th, 1815, Belgium
Blucher's Prussians have been shattered at Ligny and are in full
retreat. Wellington, having given Ney a bloody nose at Quatre Bras,
has fallen back to Waterloo to await the French onslaught...
only to discover that Napoleon used the torrential rain on the 17th
to hide a forced march West, and outflank the Anglo-Allied army and
cut it off from Brussels. Now, Wellington is desperately trying to
readjust his army to stop the French and keep his line of retreat open.
A mixed bag of divisions from the Anglo-Allied army will go up against
two French Corps caught in march column. Fix Bayonets!!!
(Look here for the scenario including Orders of Battle and map)
Post Game report:
The day was won by the Anglo-Allied forces, thanks in no small part to the heroic efforts of Colonel von Vincke's 5th Hannoverian Brigade that held off a full infantry division _and_ a full cavalry division for more than half of the game.
The battle opened with the lead French divisions (1st Infantry and 1st Cavalry) pushing forward to engage the Hannoverians while the 2nd and 3rd Infantry Divisions moved up the road and prepared to meet the assault of the British coming from the East. The 11th Heavy Cavalry Division entered behind the 3rd Infantry and moved west of the road, away from the approaching British. About half of the Anglo-Allied troops moved forward while orders went out to get some other brigades moving. Contact in the first two turns was sporadic, consisting of mostly artillery fire and several volleys of rockets from Whinyates Royal Horse Artillery Battery attached to the 2nd British Cavalry (Union) Brigade. Meanwhile, the Hannoverians of von Vincke's Brigade lost two battalions but the other two battalions and supporting foot battery faced down several cavalry and infantry charges, inflicting high casualties and destroying a regiment of lancers.
The British pressed the attack in the south with the 3rd British Brigade, the 1st KGL Brigade, the 4th British Cavalry Brigade and the 1st British Household Cavalry Brigade. The French 4th Infantry Division had entered the board at the south end and deployed in support line to face the British and German troops. North of the copse of woods, the 1st Hannoverian Brigade and 2nd KGL Brigade with a Brigade of Foot Guards attacked the 2nd Infantry Division and just outside of town, Maitland's Foot Guards were going toe to toe with most of the 3rd Infantry Division with the Union Brigade coming to help.
Maitland's Foot Guards and the Union Brigade took heavy casualties and eventually both Foot Guards battalions were swept from the field but not before inflicting over 50% casualties to the French, including a square broken by a charge of the Scots Greys. With the 5th British Brigade coming out of town to plug the gap, the French were in trouble here.
The battle south of the woods was fairly even, with both sids dishing out lots of punishment and Heavy Cavalry being met by Heavy Cavalry. The Life Guards and Royal Horse Guards eventually got the upper hand on the French Dragoons and Cuirassiers and started to push the French back.
North of the copse of woods, the French and Hannoverian troops were mixing it up in the fields around a farmhouse. The situation here turned grim for the Hannoverians when the Carabiniers and Cuirassiers of the 12th Cavalry Division charged foward and slaughtered a couple battalions. The KGL and Foot Guards settled for holding their ground against the heavy cavalry and the threat of a light cavalry division charge (2nd Cavalry Division).
At the head of the road, the French finally wore down the Hannoverians and broke the remainder of the brigade but not before they were reinforced by the Highlanders and Rifleman of the 8th British Brigade. The battered and bloodied French could not force their way off of the map.
Pictures
WW2 Game 6
Rules: Battlefront
GM: Paul Bernardino, Vince Stella
Its almost Chritsmas. The Brass said its quiet in this
sector. No
one bothered to tell the Krauts. The Germans have broken through, and are
threatening to drive to Antwerp. Clerks, Cooks and any other REMFs must
hold the line so retreating troops can reform behind them, and
reinforcements can arrive. Don't worry you only have to hold against
the Panzers!!! Besides HQ said you'll get reinforcements - soon.
This is a hypothetical Bulge scenario. So grab your rifle/carbine, and
leave your typewriter behind.
Post Game Report:
REMFs can fight. The game was an American victory (marginal).
If given more
time, the Germans may have completed their victory conditions. One of the
highlights of the game was when the American commanding the M10 TD platoon,
tried to open up on and American jeep retreating from the formerly American
held town. He thought it was a Tiger. (German Psychological warfare did
work). As for the players personal victory conditions, it went like this.
Names will be left out to protect the craven (but we know who you are)
American Bn Commander - Did not get his line battalion
back. After
losing more than 50% of the company under his direct command, he was found
by
MPs hiding.
American Casinova Company commander - held his town, but
did not cause
enough enemy casualties to get his bodycount. This happens when your M10s
get smoked by MkIVs. He also has to work on his vehicle recognition - he
thought the American jeep was a Tiger in disguise.
American Looters - They got their gold shipment of, and
held up the great
Otto Skorzeny with a measily 57mm ATG. (or was it the fault of the
Volkgrenadiers).
American Cukold commander - Despite casinova sleeping with
his wife,
killing German tanks was still his priority. In fact, this Sherman commander
ended winning the prize.
American tank commander - althought his goal was to get
more kills that
the cukold, this commander thought that hiding in the woods behind the
infantry was a good way of killing Germans. Don't want to scratch the
factory finish on the sherman with a few 75mm AP rounds.
Otto Skorzeny - After successfully infiltrating the American
held town,
Otto found the the Volksgrenadiers supporting him stop after taking the
town
in a fairly bloodless manner. Not wanting to sacrifice his precious paras,
Otto waited to long to press the attack.
Volksgrenadiers commanders - did live to see the end of
the war.
Although they did not receive many casualties, the poor boys misread their
orders ( what do you want from reservists.) They stopped their advanced
one
they took the town to their front, and refused to advance. Sorry, Otto.
Paratroops commanders - they did survive; however, since
they were
relegated to riding on the back of the SS tanks, they never got a chance
to
close.
Panzer Meyer - Never made it past the middle of the table.
The great
armor breakthrough was held up after they lost a tank to a tank destroyer.
After that, the appearance of numerically superior American armor, took
the
steam out of the advance.
Pictures
Scale: 15mm ACW
Rules: Fire & Fury
GM: S. Landis, M. Panzer, K. Kramer, J. Grimes, J. Kimmel, G. Markert
The Rogues are back with THE late night convention tradition. The totally unhistorical Vicksburg scenario at Cold Wars-with all of joy only a town siege can bring scored another notch in the bedpost, but what can we do next? How about the Peninsula - with all of it's lousy terrain, disorganized superior Union forces and the infamous Rogues Navy. We may even see an observation balloon. So join in the revelry the insanity (yeah we got the Georgia Courage again), bring a friend and stand by for some dice rolling, lead pushin, killin' things and the brutal 3AM sing off. As always - 2 drink minimum. Please note- choice of sides will be based on time of pre-game sign-in and anyone who preregistered will get commander bonuses.
Post Game Report (courtesy of John Grimes):
Gentlemen,
Another ovewhelmingly successful social and wargaming event. 41 players
at
midnight and at least 20 spectators. The defense of Norfolk, Virginia was
a
strategic and tactical victory for the CSA. Many, many US soldiers were
killed
or captured and the naval stores at Norfolk did not fall to the union and
were not destroyed. More importantly all had fun.
This event personifies the spirit of gaming. unlike most of the other
events, we gamed with men. Manly men. None of those weak kneed, pale faced,
yellow bellied girly men. These were studly men. Cigar smoking, beer drinking
whiskey swilling men, men who saw the elephant and were not dismayed. they
not only saw the elephant, they shot the elephant, skinned the elephant,
ate
the elephant down tho the toenails and tusks. They then hollowed out the
tusks and used them to sound the trumpet declaring their manliness. There
was
so much testosterone in the area, that 2 weeks from now, when a housekeeping
lady walks through the area, she will spontaneously turn into a man!!!!!
None
of this sissified, whining, carping rules lawyering whimpering about
objectives, flanks, esthetics or other nonsense that are best left to wimpy
interior decorators and other non manly types.These people were only
concerned with the basic tenets of war!!! Close with the enemy and destroy
him. This was wargaming as it should be, no politically correct apologists,
concerned about the atavistic male animal, just guys having a good time,
gaming, drinking, smoking and talking out of their butts. These were
men!!!!!! I cannot wait till next time. Congratulations to the gamemasters
at
historicon's midnight massacre, I have a lot to live up to!!!!!
Fredricksburg
Scale: 10mm ACW
Rules: Fire & Fury
GM: B. Moreno, P. Bernardino, J. Grimes, M. Bates
(Look here for more information about this game)
Look here for photos from the RECON convention in Tampa, FL.
Fall In! '99
[Kurt E. Kramer] The table East of Winchester involved
a delaying
action as Union troops attempted to move west through the mountains to
support the attack. The Confederates were outnumbered 2-1 in cavalry and
3-2 in infantry and guns.
The battle started with a confederate cavalry charge on
the
flank to prevent the union cavalry from cutting off the line of retreat
for
the entire board. The attack was successful in that the cavalry battle
developed away from the main East-West road. The infantry battle involved
a
general confederate fighting withdrawal with are counterattacks that
prevented the Union from gaining an early victory and giving the
confederates time. Although well fought, The confederate flank and front
eventually collapsed after about 10 turns of play. Only about 25% of the
confederate forces escaped back to Winchester out of 7 brigades of infantry
and 4 of cavalry.
Overall the battle was a draw. Although Confederate losses
in the end exceed Union losses and they were not able to prevent the union
from forcing their way through, overall the confederate commanders fought
an
effective holding action against a stronger force. Union players were able
to maintain pressure over the entire line and avoided bunching up their
advancing troops, a problem I had expected. The sides play generally
reminded me of the difference between grant and Lee. Inspired defense by
a
weaker Confederate v. strong consistent Union pressure which overwhelmed
the defender.
[Jeff Kimmel] John,
Scott and I had the honor of assaulting the town since
we needed more players. I deliberately maneuvered to attack the
rebel line all at once, got fouled up by the trees and one brigade
came up a 1/4" short. The other attacks went badly, I fell back.
The Confederates... counterattacked? All along the line? Umm, ok.
They eventually were driven back to their breastworks after
losing somewhere in the area of 6 brigades. My highlight was a Union
column charging from the woods into the Confederate line. It smashed
the rebel brigade in front of it (one of the counterattackers) and
charged on into the breastworks, destroying a battery. Napoleonic
tactics at their finest! But I couldn't support it so it was sent
scurrying for home with 60% losses. The battle was called with the
Confederate survivors huddling in the houses, waiting for the
Union sledge hammer to fall.
by Michael Panzer
The German and British fleets approached each other in
proper battle line. The Germans lead with their battle cruisers, which stayed
out of the fight for he most part. Some aging pre-dreadnoughts brought up
the tail of the German line.
The two lines sailed by each other going in opposite directions and the
Germans committed first, turning into the British line. The pre-dreadnoughts
turned to cut across the head of the British line. The British continued
on, blasting away at targets of opportunity. The Germans closed but didn't
get close enough to enable their 12" guns to penetrate the British
armor, while the British ships were able to inflict damage on the Germans
with their 13.5" and 15" guns. After three German ships were put
out of action the German admiral decided to call it a day and sailed back
to Kiel.
It went very well, we had 8 players (no Rogues, 3 pre-reg
and the rest
walk-ups) play. All basically knew F&F rules so no training required.
We
did a few things to start the game quickly, but we ended sooner than I liked
due to a few of us having to get on the road on Sunday (the Gettysburg
Resort also wanted us out of there, we were the last game standing).
Overall I think everyone was generally pleased with the scenario and the
playability, but there was a definite tendency for the Confederates to come
straight up the middle and try to break through at the C/N Turnpike break
at
the works coming into the town. The CSA came close, but were repelled back
sharply by Opdyke's Brigade (sound historical) which literally vaporized
5
stands in one turn due to fire casualties and melee.
We only got to the 6:00 PM turn which meant that everyone did not get into
the game. I didn't even bother pulling the US Cav and they would not have
been a factor. It would have taken them forever to even engage the
Confederate Cav on the far side, and no-one would have had them ford the
river into the artillery batteries placed to counter-battery the U.S. Corp
batteries. The CSA Cav did nothing but hold US units on the right flank
from redeploying. I held Wood's US division on the North side of the River
(mostly because we ran out of room on the frontage of Franklin and because
I
couldn't see on the map where they were located) and gave the US the option
to roll to see if they activated them. The US commander did when it looked
like the CSA might break through the middle on the road, but they never
got
into play. I added an interesting twist after I had talked to you and made
them move across the bridge as rough terrain due to it being damaged - this
had the effect of slowing them down and made the Union Commander think twice
about bringing troops back, but it also made the confederates think they
had
somewhat of a chance. I placed abatices about every 5 inches about 3"
in
front of the trenches and that worked pretty effectively. I think after
darkness with the firing ranges reduced they wouldn't have mattered, but
by
that time it would be pretty much hand to hand. You may want to think about
how many, spread, distance setting, etc. you want to allow for the abatices.
I separated the Union Corp batteries as one Corp on the left flank across
the river (3 in the fort, 2 on the small rise on the other side of the
river), and one Corp in Franklin, with 3 batteries spread in front of
Franklin and 2 held in Reserve behind the lines and filled the gap where
the
road came through. This seemed to work well for the players and allowed
them some playability freedom. The Union should have kicked ass with the
batteries, but they rolled like crap until the end when it mattered with
cannister. We didn't really get to try the visibility rules, but after
thinking about it, we need a ruling on musket vs artillery, artillery
switching from ball to cannister (which at night would be all they had),
and
moving vs stationary troops (I think it is easier to see 1000 men moving
at
dusk when you are standing still and peering over a wall than the other
way
around) - give it some thought.
Cold Wars '00
by Michael Panzer
The main twelve Japanese and Russian ships met again! The
Japanese turned to port in divisions to cover the Russian advance. The Russians
formed a line to the northeast. Opening fire was light as the range was
great. The IJN Battleships turned to starboard closing the range and allow
the first set of IJN cruisers to enter the battle. Fire becomes intense!
Mikasa, the Japanese flagship is hit hard. Suvorov, the Russian flag hit
but not as much. Battle-lines begin to fall apart as ships fire torpedoes.
Some ships with damage move at slower speeds. The good Japanese battleships
veer port? Blocking the entry of the Japanese 2nd Division, their second
cruiser group into the battle! Mikasa hit hard yet again, is crippled and
will sink after nightfall. Suvorov, disabled to 3 knots can not avoid a
torpedo spread and sinks quickly! Japanese cruisers Kasuga, Nisshin, Asama
and Iwate concentrate on the Aleksander III, crippling her, but not finishing
her off for a while. The Aleksander III even in her damaged state continues
to fire and place shells near her tormentors, but is unable to actually
hit them. By this point three of those Japanese cruisers are near 75% damage
themselves and have begin targeting the Orel. The Oslyaba and Sissoi Veliki
from the Russian 2nd Division pass through the main Japanese battleships,
exchanging damage, only to run into the Japanese 2nd Division! Both Russian
ships are pounded to 75% damage while only hurting the IJN Adzuma similarly.
The IJN Fuji finds and with one broadside cripples the Ushakov in the smoke
and confusion of the far tail end of the battle. A swift nightfall comes!
As night falls and the fleets separate, it is seen as a Japanese marginal
victory. During the night three of the Russian ships, Oslyaba, Sissoi Veliki
and Ushakov, will founder or be picked off by swarming Japanese torpedo
boats. The Russians did better than history by sinking the Mikasa, but the
Japanese did enough and had enough left to keep them from reaching Vladivostok.
by Michael Panzer
On the Right Flank:
On turn 1 Union forces aggressively advanced along the
line to seize the
dominant terrain along Lancaster Ridge. A strong Division attacked to
secure a small hill top dominating the southern (?) maneuver corridor in
preparation for follow-up Union forces. This division achieved initial
success against a Southern Division, (the forward element of my corps)
destroying one Brigade, and routing another. On the northern flank(?) The
Union began a cautious advance, across the dense terrain in the valley to
be
met by an equally cautious Confederate counter-attack.
Sporadic engagements continued across the front with the ebb generally in
favor of CSA forces. The southern CSA Corps had a mid-battle change of
command (to ME) and counter attacked, driving US forces back to the foot
of
the ridge line. A council of war was conducted with the army
commander (Paul). New orders were issued, the town being secured, and sent
to the army, which then transitioned to the offense. The CSA broke through
in the south, and flanked the entire union line. the center and northern
flank fixed Union Forces, then slowly drove them back toward their starting
positions. At this point, the Union commander assumed a defensive posture.
In terms of mission accomplished and troops destroyed, it was a CSA victory.
by Greg Markert
On the river:
Four players.
The Union navy of two double turreted monitors, two single turreted
monitors, a double ended steamer, a mortar boat and two mortar rafts, was
faced with an island fort, defended by two Ironclads, two double ended
steamers and four torpedo launches.
Confederates sent all their launches up the east side of the island,
two having started on the west side. Union started work on suppressing the
fort and moving their mortars into position to silence it. Confederates
charged the still Union fleet. A USN monitor rammed the CSN Abemarle, which
passed by trying to sink a Union mortar raft. That monitor lost both guns
in
its turret and became immobilized. The Union double ended was disabled right
where it wanted to be shelling the fort, first the rudder was damaged, then
the funnels were shot off so it could not move, later it was sunk by more
fire from the fort! The CSN Abemarle was sunk. The CSN Ethan [double ender]
was sunk. The confederate launches attacked the double turreted monitor
in
the east, damaging it, passed by it to help sink the Union Mortar boat and
one of the mortar rafts. At which point the other Confederate ironclad was
sunk. The other confederate wooden ship passed the hapless monitor, tried
to
pass a double turreted monitor, when the captain was killed in full view
of
the crew who then lost heart and sailed the ship away!
The end result: the Union controlled the waters, but the Confederate
fort controlled the landings were troops could have been placed to help
the
land battle.
by Jeff Kimmel
(please look here for the scenario information)
I had three French players and four Austrian players for this game and a good time was had by all. The Austrian setup is more or less predetermined so they had little to do at first but watch the French maneuver and try to disrupt them with long range artillery fire. The French commander surprised me by shifting Marulaz's cavalry to the left flank along with all three brigades of 1st Division. The shifting was really odd because the cav ended up behind all the infantry as it made its assault on Rheinwald's position (V Corps, 2nd Division) and had to continue swinging out to the French left flank to get around their infantry. This also meant that the main focus of the French attack was on the Austrian position furthest from the victory area. St. Cyr's division, meanwhile, went up the gut into the heart of the Austrian position straddling the highway.
Rheinwald's men fought like demons, passing two morale checks with flying colors. The French cavalry finally met the Austrian Uhlans way out beyond the town of Waringer and one Chasseur regiment was destroyed and two others badly beat up to one Uhlan regiment detroyed. The French used their initial numbers advantage (6-4) to pile on the Austrians though and quickly destroyed another Uhlan Regiment. The Austrian line troops held out briefly behind the walls outside Waringer but finally were pushed back and broken. The Grenzer's, who started holding the town sectors, advanced out of town to fight the light troops of Coehorn's brigade but were also pushed back and finally broken by attacks from the Tirailleurs. The two Tirailleur battalions racked up the most impressive kill ratio, breaking six or seven Austrian battalions, including one fresh line battalion taken in the flank and broken in a single melee.
While Rheinwald was being chewed up and spit out, Nagel's Hesse-Darmstadt infantry advanced at the head of St. Cyr's division and were punished by concentrated artillery fire from four Austrian batteries. Two battalions broke before the Hessians even made a charge. When they finally attacked Hammer's troops (V Corps, 1st Division), most of the Hessian battalions had suffered 50% losses; they managed to kill some of the artillery before the brigade broke. The beating the Hessians took allowed the rest of 2nd Division to deploy to their left, closing the gap with 1st Division and assaulting Hohenfeld (V Corps, Rearguard) directly.
Rheinwald's command finally collapsed after suffering over 75% casualties and 1st Division advanced to hit Hohenfeld's division in the flank. With the right side of the bridgehead area open, Hiller committed the reserve (Kuttulinsky) to back up Hohenfeld and close the gap against the remaining French cavalry by forming a line of squares with three line battalions. Unfortunately, putting three line battalions on the flank meant the Vienna Landwehr was in the thick of the fighting as Hohenfeld's right flank started to fall apart under the pincer attack of St. Cyr, 1st Division and the French cavalry. The Landwehr was not up to the task and suffered heavy losses.
The Austrian position was precarious but they had almost held long enough for the engineers to blow the bridge to Ebelsburg. With the clock ticking down (in more ways than one), the last French assault smashed Hohenfeld and broke the Austrian army morale. The French hadn't escaped unscathed, suffering over 25% losses themselves, though a lot of those casualties were concentrated in Nagel's Hesse-Darmstadt contingent.
We played 13 turns in 4 1/2 hours, averaging just over 20 minutes per half hour of game time. The result was a strategic victory for the French.
Historicon '00
Historicon '00 Wrap-up
Attendance seemed on par with previous Historicons, so I'd guess 3000
attendees for the four days. The vendor area was packed full as usual for
the summer convention so there was plenty of opportunity to spend money,
which I did, more than I had planned, but oh well, its a convention. The
list was at least 48 vendors long, I'll have to double check the event book
to be certain.
The flea market was a bit of a disappointment but not because of what was
available. Renovations rendered one of the largest rooms at the Host unusable
(drop ceiling was... dropping) so they had the first day flea market in
a small room that could accommodate maybe 30 shoppers and was hot and stuffy.
They then put the flea market around the edge of the largest game room,
which worked much better but with games going on, access to the tables was
problematic.
Open gaming space was hard to find by all accounts, and I consider this
a good thing. I heard one staff person say that there were 100 additional
games registered on the first day, above and beyond the full slate of games
already on the list. There were a couple cancellations of course but every
time I went around the gaming rooms, most tables were occupied or scheduled
for something. The variety of games was great, running from Ancients to
Sci-Fi (future historical games, right?) and terrain ran from ordinary to
superb. I saw Napoleonics of all sizes, pirate battles in 25mm (beautifully
painted ships that were up to 2 feet long and almost as tall!), ACW and
ECW, ambushes in the jungles of Vietnam and the mean streets of a blown
out WW2 city (in 54mm no less), while Gunslingers were busy in a Wild West
skirmish on the next table. The Old Dominion guys had their normal full
house of Mein Panzer and American Battlelines (ACW) demos and as well as
scenarios using both rulesets. In another room, Ripley and the Colonial
Marines battled Aliens in a nicely made tunnel system.
The Rogues put on four games, all of which were booked full. The Midnight
Massacre drew 36 players despite the late starting time (Midnight of course)
and everyone had a blast. The Napoleonics game was a bloody affair, with
the both sides taking near 50% casualties and the two naval games (one ACW,
one WWI) went well. Full After Action Reports are available.
All in all, it was a great convention with a few minor glitches (but then
there always are I guess).
(no report available)
Napoleonics (photos after the report)
(by Jeff Kimmel)
I ran this game Thursday evening at Historicon and had
a full slate
of players. We played for 5 hours, got 16 game turns done and while
neither army broke, the outcome was apparent.
Random Setup and Entry with Entry Point (A or B):
French
Area #1 - 1st Brigade, Claparede's Division
Area #2 - 2nd Brigade Conroux's Division
Turn 2, B - 2nd Brigade, Claparede's Division
Turn 4, A - 1st Brigade, 1st Division
Turn 6, A - 2nd Brigade, 1st Division
Turn 8, A - 2nd Brigade, Claparede's Division
Allied
Area #1 - 3rd & 4th Brigades, 1st Division
Area #2 - 1st & 2nd Brigades, 5th Division
Turn 2, A - 1st & 2nd Brigades, 6th Division
Turn 4, A - 1st Brigade, 2nd Spanish Division
Turn 6, A - 1st & 2nd Brigades, 1st Division
Turn 8, B - 2nd Brigade, 2nd Spanish Division
The game opened with tentative movement all along the line.
All infantry
forces deployed for combat and a few skirmishers fired at each other
while the French cavalry moved up to the town to see where the Allied
cav was (hiding by the wheat field). The battle in the center heated up
quickly with the British pushing hard to secure the two town sectors
on the far side of the stream and the French sent two regiments of
Chasseurs forward to charge the British Light Dragoons, each side had
a regiment get smashed in one clash. The fight by the single town did
not shift as both sides were content to volley across the stream. The
British had an initial numbers advantage here but the French got
reinforced by another brigade. The first couple Allied reinforcements
hoofed it for battle in the center with the Foot Guards heading for
the far flank.
In the middle, the town sector by the pond changed hands several times
as both sides charged and counter charged. Finally, the Gordon
Highlander's were committed and took the town for good. Casualties
were high in the British side, with two of the KGL battalions getting
destroyed and the rest beat up badly. Fresh French troops arrived to
apply pressure to the British but one of the Spanish brigades with a
foot battery arrived to shore up the flank.
The firefight on the flank lasted for half the game before the French
caused some casualties with artillery fire and braved the stream
crossing to try to take the town. Casualties rose sharply here as well
but the British failed their first morale check and retreated, leaving
the French to re-deploy freely. The Foot Guards were still marching so
the French sat for a bit while the British rallied and started forward
again. Both British forces arrived at the same time and put heavy
pressure on the French. Several French lines were pushed back or
destroyed by attacking British columns (Highlanders no less) but the
troops of the original British unit in the area took more casualties and
retreated again!
The cavalry meanwhile was hacking each other to bits with the French
taking the worst of it, losing another Chasseur regiment and their
horse battery. A last ditch charge around turn 12 with the last
Chasseur regiment and a beat up Dragoon regiment against fresh British
units actually succeeded and destroyed another Light Dragoon regiment.
The Portuguese regiment was destroyed and the British took a 50% morale
check and rolled a 1! The French cavalry now had an open flank to
sweep behind the Allies. Supporting French infantry made short work of
the understrength British infantry (6th Division) that was behind the
Allied cavalry, and the French was off to the races.
In the middle, the Spanish were standing their ground against increasing
odds and giving better than they got. The Highlanders left their hard won
town the wrong way, lost initiative, and got flanked by another fresh
French battalion which destroyed the Gordon's. The British brigade
passed two morale checks and held their ground, defending the towns
against several assaults. The Foot Guards, with the once again rallied
British troops and the last Spanish brigade finally munched the two
French brigades opposing them and secured the flank. The Spanish lost
two battalions in the process though.
As time ran out, both sides had lost their left flank with the center
towns behind the hinge of two rotating forces. The British were five
units short of overall morale failure and the French were eight short.
The best British troops were sitting behind the mangled KGL and Spanish
in the middle with two lone battalions watching the French cavalry
go behind them, heading for the rear of the Spanish in the middle. The
French in the middle had not reached 50% losses yet, though most
battalions had two or three hits on them, with one fresh brigade moving
up from the four sector town. It seemed likely that the British would
reach their army break point first when the cavalry hit the Spanish
from the back the two brigades hit them from the front and flank so
it I decided the French had won the engagement, though neither side
would be fighting for a while.
I had two experienced Shako players and one who had played a few games,
the other three had never played the rules. As it happens, the new players
all were French. In retrospect, this seems to have been a good thing as
the French are easier to play I think. The new guys picked up the rules
quickly and everyone had a good time. We used the new rules revisions
(plus my d10 modification), though no one really made any massed column
attacks, most everyone was fighting in line. The full scenario, OOB's
and map can be found on here.
Photos
(no report available)
(no report available)
Photos
The Pope Game (photos after the report)
The Constantinople Courier
July 25,2000
Allah the news that fits to print, by Allah!!!
Article by Mustapha Ben Amin Fallouq
Somewhere in the Balkans
As the daylight filtered through the thick summer air, blessed be Allah
and his prophet, the forces of Steven Pasha, the hammer of Islam, woke to
an unpleasant sight. After raiding successfully, throughout the lands of
the Holy Roman Empire, and the towns and depots that emperor Scott the Indecisive
had established to raid the outlying areas of the Ottoman Empire, Allah
had thrown an obstacle in their path, mysterious is his plan. Laden with
the spoils of the raid, gold, jewels, ammunition, weapons, spices, slaves
and silks, Steven had led his followers almost to safety, guided by the
will of Allah. He had been pursued by Scott the Laggard, assisted by Lord
Damian, also known as the man with many faces. One of the laggard's erstwhile
allies, Baron Kurt, the Nitpicker, held the ford against the soldiers of
the prophet, while Michael, Count de Money, brought up the rear, slowly,
and in much confusion as to why he was here, when the beer was at home.
These forces were no danger to the sword of the faithful; he had confused,
eluded and outwitted them with the ease of a Turk in a flock of sheep. Allah
himself guided the Pasha to chose fast, mobile troops, who danced rings
around the slow witted, slow footed imperials.
As has been told here, the Imperials were not even as a sand flea to a camels
hide, less than a nuisance. However, as the Imperials plodded from the west
and north, from the southeast came a threat of a different stripe. The Papal
forces were approaching, and their purpose was unknown. Led by Pope Durin
I, the Impotent, his minions came forward, banners flying, each vying with
the other to attain the front rank of honor. Cardinal Wigglesbottom, elector
of Bungundy, (not misspelled), and the eunuch Bastardo, also known as The
Soprano, were chief among the Papists. But the mercenary forces of the Duke
of Johannesburg, Johann, his most craven and sycophantic follower immediately
and treacherously assaulted a Turkish envoy, who was escorting guests that
happened to be with Pasha Steven's forces to their families, may the elector
be reborn as a dwarf, poxed and ugly.
The envoy escaped, blessed is Allah in his clemency, but his escort, Allah
be merciful, perished to a man against overwhelming odds, killing 4 to their
own loss, buying time with blood to protect the envoy, thus ensuring themselves
to a place in paradise amongst the houris.
Negotiations, inspired by Allah, and following the will of the prophet,
commenced, and the Turkish forces withdrew from between the two infidel
forces. The pig eating scum fell upon each other, Imperialist slaying Papist,
Papist maiming Imperialist, with a ferocity and single-mindedness reminiscent
of jackals around a rotting kill. Allah be praised, Allah be merciful, the
forces of the Pasha confined themselves to defensive motions, allowing the
faithless unbelievers to perform the will of Allah and slay themselves with
fierce efficiency. The craven cowards, with the usual befuddled leadership
of the Count de Money, were beguiled to remove themselves from a commanding
position atop a hill, and retreat, craven cowards, before our forces, all
praise to Allah and his faithful prophet. The witless Damian, allowed the
Pasha's most cunning leader, Mo Reilly, whose wisdom and kind demeanor are
known throughout Constantinople, a byproduct of the crusades, to pass his
flank and destroy him utterly for his faithlessness. Steven Pasha's light
horse fought hard and well to shield the Turkish forces from the papists
and the imperialists, allowing us to conserve our strength for the decisive
moment, by the will of Allah. The followers of Steven Pasha's most faithful
commander, the voice of the Pasha, Johannes Bignutz, held themselves barely
in check at the request of the Pasha, while the enigmatic commander of the
ghazis, Sulieman Zinkmullah, grew frantic with joy, his troops slaughtered
the forces of Lord Damian as they dashed themselves unsuccessfully against
his shield wall. Zinkmullah, with characteristic aplomb, capered madly in
the setting sun, screeching encouragement to his troops. As night fell the
shattered remnants of the Imperialists left their dead and wounded on the
field as they fled in disorder. The Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was
found wandering on the battlefield, in his usual state of confusion, and
was arrested by the secret police of the church, the Gez Tapos, never to
be seen again, but the screams were heard all night. Cardinal Wigglebutts
tried to usurp the Pope, was unsuccessful and was impaled on a short, dull
stake. He was noted to say that to some extent, it was much like a date.
When dawn came again, the now depleted and exhausted forces of the Pope
were faced with a sight that made the quake in their boots, the fresh and
determined faces of the forces of the prophet, may his word cover the world,
sat ready to do battle. The Pope and his forces, tails between their legs,
ran like the infidel dogs that they are. Allah be praised and Mohammed is
his prophet.
The loot from the battlefield was tremendous, slaves, goods and kine. The
jewel encrusted mitre of the Pope and the crown of the Holy Roman Empire
now reside in the great mosque in Constantinople, for the glory of the one
god, Allah. For his part in the destruction of the threat of the combined
forces of the Pope and the empire, Steven Pasha was given a new position,
somewhere in the region of Maryland, with servants to lord over and women
to impress. The enigmatic Zinkmullah, disappears into the mists with his
faithful followers to await a great crisis, or opportunity to loot, as is
the will of Allah. Mo Reilly, the urbane and witty raconteur, becomes the
voice of the new Pasha, with glory and the blessings of the imams. He plans
to impress women with great tales of flying carpets, copters and whirligigs,
with his usual poor to middling success. While Johannes Bignutz, steps faithfully
into the shoes of the Pasha, ruling wisely, and building up his forces for
the next confrontation on the fringes of the Ottoman territories, and bemoaning
the fate of married men everywhere, praise to Allah.
All of the wise men of the age, the great capitans of their time and the
scholars of the ancient texts agree that given the tactical situation, and
the strategic context, the real winners at the battle were the Turks, still
with strength intact, more loot than ever and their reputations and glory
enhanced. They escaped a trap, skillfully, and all returned to their estates,
harems, and families better off than they were before, to the fawning attention
of all. Truly, Steven, now caliph and his band of captains are the wisest
of all gamers, and will return to face the forces of the infidel again.
Photos
THUD
(no report available)
Fall In! '00
The last convention of the year has come and gone and I think it was one of the best Fall In conventions so far. The weather cooperated beautifully, sunny skies and warm enough to walk around outside without a jacket.
Several Rogues went up early to take a guided tour of a portion of the battlefield. If you have not done this, I highly recommend it, it is well worth the cost. Our tour covered the first days action and our guide knew his stuff, giving us detailed accounts of troop movements, commanders, and the many small skirmishes and major clashes of the day. A word of warning, you will likely do a fair bit of walking and some of the trails are rough.
The convention was well attended (for the November convention) from what I've heard, over 1000 people paid to play and shop, with a further 300 in staff and vendors. There were times when there were empty tables in the ballroom and on the soccer field but I think that there were more games put on this time than in previous cons here. The vendors area was well stocked as usual and I spent more money than I had planned but got some good deals. There were a few vendors missing that I had planned on visiting to look for stuff.
The games this convention were the usual wide variety I've come to expect from an HMGS event. One of the highlights was in a corner of the vendor area where the 12" WW2 figures (Dragon) were used for skirmish gaming. The 1/6 scale tanks were quite impressive. I would hate to have to store and transport that stuff though, I have enough trouble with 15mm and 25mm figures!
The Rogues ran several games, ACW with Fire&Fury, a 1906 variant of Tsushima, and two ancients games. The Fire & Fury, Nashville game was a test of a scenario for the next Fire & Fury scenario supplement and went very well, as did the hypothetical 1906 Tsushima battle, with Austro-Hungarians coming to the aid of the Russian navy. The two ancients games were apparently well attended.
Cold Wars '01 is just around the corner and hopefully we'll being another full slate of games.
Happy Holidays!
Tsushima 1906
(no report available)
The Battle of Nashville
(no report available)
Cold Wars '01
Historicon '01
The biggest con of the year is just around the corner and the Rogues have lined up a full slate of games. A new addition this year is a kids game that we'll be running on Saturday afternoon, sponsored by Old Glory. The Midnight Massacre will also be back in its full glory along the Mississippi in 1862, featuring land and water battles, Georgia Courage and the traditional 2 AM singing competition.
Thursday 7PM - Napoleonics (15mm, Advanced Shako)
Friday 2PM - Mexican-American War (skirmish) (25mm, Santa Anna Rules)
Friday 6PM - ACW Ironclads (15mm, BAPS Ironclads)
Friday 8PM - WW2 Aircraft (1/300, Red Star/Blue Sky)
Friday Midnight - ACW Midnight Massacre (15mm, Fire & Fury)
Saturday Noon - Mexican-American War (25mm, Santa Anna Rules)
Saturday 4PM - Plains Wars (25mm, skirmish house rules)
Sunday 10AM - WW2 ships (1/3000, Small Wars at Sea)
Historicon '01 (July 19-22, 2001, Lancaster Host Resort, Lancaster, PA)
For full game descriptions look here.
At Fall In! '02, the Rogues participated in the Featherstone
Tournament against seven other gaming groups in a single elimination tournament
using the Fire &Fury American Civil War rules. The Rogues defeated The
Brandywine Gamers in the final round in very close game that went down the
final die rolls to win the Featherstone Cup.
Fall In! '02 was well attended despite the change of venue from Gettysburg, almost equaling Cold Wars '02. There was a good variety of games as we have come to expect, including a large 54mm World War II game that covered at least 7 tables with terrain. World War I has seen a rise in interest the last couple conventions with new figures and tanks being available from a couple manufacturers and there was some spectacular trench warfare terrain at this time.
Historicon '03 Wrap Up
Another great Historicon has come and gone. The Rogues welcomed home one of our friends who was away for many months during Operation Iraqi Freedom but we were short one of our group who couldn't come for medical reasons.
It was a great convention, though marked (marred perhaps?) by the very visible presence of many high profile fantasy games in the main lobby of the Host. The official reports put attendance in excess of 3400 people and a record number of games put on by the hardworking GM's. There was a huge variety of games including some beautifully made castles for theme events. Medievel re-enactors also were present to give talks and demonstrations on the armor, weapons and fighting tactics of the period.
The Rogues put on a number of games, Battlefront: WW2, Blue Sky aircraft and Regimental Fire & Fury. We also hosted our summertime classic Midnight Massacre and came away with the #1 Gamers Choice Award for the convention. The Massacre featured a Rogues style (meaning BIG) refight of the Battle of Wilson's Creek and we had 34 players at the peak. We tried starting earlier this year which created some problems as the Distlefink was still rather full at 10PM Friday evening (never a bad thing in my opinion). The Massacre was a great success, wrapping up about 3AM when the attacking Federal forces finally called it quits and withdrew (or were chased off). As normally happens, the Rebs outsang the Yankees in the 2AM sing-off.
Novem ber 3, 2011
November 2010
The Rogues come up short for a 7th Featherstone cup
After winning the the Featherstone Cup six times in eight years ('02, '04, '06, '07, '08 and '09).The Rogues came up short for a seventh win. Scott, Kurt and Jeff were the only team entered this year and won their first round match against the Wheeling Area Gamers but lost the second round by 8 points (thanks to Scott!) and that was enough to knock them out of a possible spot in the finals. The Lehigh Gamers got clobbered by the Brandywiners in their first round match to the tune of 41 points, making the Brandywiners a virtual lock for the final as the two finalists would be determined by point differentials from the first two rounds. The final was between the Wheeling Area Gamers and the Brandywiners (one actual Brandywiner and two subs as it happens). Only four teams were involved the tournament this year, the lowest turnout of any Featherstone Tournament, the fourth team was the Lehigh Games. John Snead and Michael Panzer were co-GM's again this year and did a fine job despite some grumbling on the part of some of those involved. Rumor has it that some trash talk by Brandywiner substitute, and regular Rogue, Dave Reiners may have contributed to Scott Landis' boneheaded play at the end of the second round that cost the Rogues a chance to meet the lone Brandywiner (plus friends) in the final.
