Closing in.

Rolling in to December always has it's challenges and traditions. Black Friday sales seem to be the biggest challenge. There's the sales for things that you had in the back of your mind but don't really fit in the plans you laid out for this year as well as the things you are willing to get to "help" a friend get free shipping and the biggest challenge those that you have plans for but could wait until next year to get. This last is my current dilemma. Warfare is having a 15% off sale and I could finish off my GNW project with it but I had hoped to wait until January. There's five more days to debate this.

Traditions involve recapping the year and setting plans for next year. Now is a little early for this but I've seen a few blogs that have discussed their current year or a system for keeping the lead pile and projects organized if not under control.

Here we have a plan to limit projects to a certain size.
http://battlefieldswarriors.blogspot.com/2019/11/my-new-pocket-armies-project.html

Here is a quarterly update on how the year is going.
https://blundersonthedanube.blogspot.com/2019/11/3rd-quarter-statistics.html

Here our blogger enters the Analoge Painting Challenge.
http://wargaminggirl.blogspot.com/2019/11/paint-table-saturday-ahpc-x-is-upon-us.html
Details of the challenge above.
http://thepaintingchallenge.blogspot.com/

Part of the planning is the monthly tracking through The Pledge. This year is working out fairly well for me. Another unit of infantry for the GNW project and the start of another "no new periods" period. These put me at 304 figures painted. Fun fact, of those 16 were for an unplanned period and 56 were for periods that were technically finished.

GNW Vastmanland Regiment. Warfare Miniatures.

USMC Vietnam. Empress Miniatures

Through the Mines

Once again Matt laid out his dungeon terrain and we played a game. He's been working on using the Flint & Feather game engine for LOTR and it's shaping up nicely.  The scenario has Aragorn, Boromir, Legolas and Gimli escorting the four Hobbits through the mines hoping to get out the other side.

A Wraith awakened while getting a treasure. 

Surviving the fight our group head to the next chamber.

Attacked from all corners Legolas and Gimli make short work of the skeletons.

Winding through the narrow passage.

Dinner time in the mine.

The fight is costly but won. 

Two of the Hobbits are down before Aragorn and Boromir can move in.

A vicious battle but in the end Good prevails.

It was a great game with the victor unknown until the last die roll. One of the great things about playing at Matt's is he has all the little details that add color to the table.

See some more pics of the action on Matt's blog.
Saltflats1929

Back at it.

October has found me doing more facets of the hobby. The summer saw a fair amount of gaming but little else. Now I've gotten back to painting and am continuing the reorganization of the AWI armies.

I finished nine Swedish cavalry by Warfare miniatures as well as some RAFM Plains War that had been sitting in a box for years. The RAFM had been primed white but something went wrong and the figures had a bit of  that orange peel look to them I started painting them anyway but had some trouble with coverage. They went back in the box until last August when I pulled them out determined to finish them. While on vacation I picked up some Holger Eriksson GNW figures. I finished off five artillery crew and a gun. I really like the style of these figures and although they don't match size wise to the Warfare Figures I will use them alongside them.

Smaland Cavalry, Warfare Miniatures.

Plains Indians, RAFM

US Cavalry, RAFM

Swedish Artillery, Holger Eriksson.

Back in June I had picked up some of the new Empress Vietnam figures. This hasn't been an interest to me in over forty years. No manufacturer has made figures that grabbed me and it's been a challenge to find rules that give a game that will give the feel of what I imagine the fights were like. Then Gringo 40s and Empress both release ranges that look great. Easy as it is to order from across the pond  and Ged's reputation it was easier to get the Empress from across the table through Age of Glory  at NJCON.  I painted the grenadiers as a test for colors to use. It's always difficult to decide on colors when using online references as even the same photo  can show up in different shades. I'm liking the kneeling figure the best. Number one was painted just because often that's how I think of Army Green but it's pretty bright.

1-2-3-4

1-2-3-4

Here's the paints I used, all Vallejo. Equipment and flak jackets were the same for all figures.
1 - US Uniform 922
2 - Russian Green 894
3 - Russian Uniform 924
4 - US Dark Green 893

Flak jackets Khaki Grey 880
Webbing, pouches, khaki 988, Brown Violet 887.

Organizing the AWI collection

We played another game of A Gentleman's War AWI the other night and a great game it was. We used two card decks and had five players. Three games over three weeks so I had left  my figures at Matts and in the end brought over most of the collection not that he doesn't have a substantial collection of his own. Here's Matt's AAR over on saltflats1929again.

Returning home I decided this would be a good time to organize the collection and see what's what. It's surprising how many figures there are. The AWI project was started many years ago and through out that time new ranges became available and rules played changed. The first figures bought were Old Glory and Front Rank to be used for Minute Man. Then Foundry came out. I picked up some Firing Line Cavalry. Painting was slow as usual and before I was done Perry came out. Most recently I've added Fife and Drum and Brigade Games.

Mistakenly I thought this organization would take only a couple of hours but it looks like it will be a little longer to get it how I would like it to be. Here's the start.

The painted part.

First box done 

These fellows need a home.

The American Officers in the back.

Clearing out a box.

Random figures.

Ten American Regiments 18-24 figures each

The Battle of Kakiat Church

After close to a month without gaming we got together for some A Gentleman's War set during the American Revolution. Matt laid out the terrain and I started setting out figures. The scenario was basically  the Crown's troops attempting to destroy the Rebel forces and take control of the church.

The British and their Brunswick allies had about ten units and the Patriots had about thirteen. We didn't formally write up distinctions but gave them to units a the situation required them.

Initial deployment of the Rebels.

The Crowns forces advance.

Slowly the Brunswickers advance.

The British engage the Rebels.

The German artillery is destroyed and the infantry start taking casualties.

The lead British regiment takes a beating as more Patriot troops move up.

A slugfest begins on the Brunswick side with hits given and saved by both sides.

The British close in and apply heavy pressure to the Patriot right.

With game set up and chatting we reached the time limit for gaming. We could have adjudicated a result but Matt said we could leave the game set up and finish it the next week. The latter option  was taken.

Now where were we?

The view of the line of battle from the Patriot left. 

The Rebels move up to reinforce their right

Reduced in strength the British keep the pressure on.

The Brunswicker Charge.

The melee 

The Grenadiers do their job but the line regiment fall back. 

The Grenadiers withstand the withering fire from the Rebels

Mounted infantry ride up to add their weight to the attack.

 We had decided to have reinforcements come in. Three units each. The Patriots had theirs enter the center and the right flank. The British came in on their own left with one in the center. Although a regiment of New Yorkers moved in on the British left they were unable to eliminate the threat to their flank. The other reinforcements didn't get into action by the time real time made us stop for the night.

As usual as the fighting became more intense and seesawed form left to right photos didn't get taken. The result was that three times the Rebel right was secure and three times it was broken. Despite seemingly overwhelming odds the Brunswickers held firm and then fell back in order. Both sides needed to regroup and though we considered leaving the game for another day decided to both claim victory and leave the field.

Another two great game nights with fortunes swinging back and forth. A few more face cards some sixs  not saved and things could have been different but as with many things it the journey that's fun as much as the destination.

What I did last Summer.

 With the start of school I'm reminded of how often our first assignment was to write about what we did during the break from school. As adults our summers don't contain the long break for summer and for some Summer is a busy time for work.

As September began I started to think about The Pledge from TMP and realized I hadn't painted anything in three months. A bit depressing but I started looking at what I had done and saw that despite being busy at work the Summer had been filled with activities though not all gaming related ones.

Our two year old niece had a baby sister in July so the niece came to visit us for a week while Mom, Dad and little sister got acquainted. We had forgotten had labor intensive a small child was but also managed some fun times with her. She did enjoy playing with the horses from my Civil War Playset.

Next came a ten day visit of my daughters dog. Another break in the routine but one that gives plenty of opportunities for hiking.

A day at the beach offered  some scenario inspiration.

Last of the big adventure was a seventy five mile ride around New York City. It was the last year for Transportation Alternatives NYC Century Ride. Always a fun ride I wasn't in shape for the whole event but squeezed out a good ride. It's fun to see the city from the seat of a bike and to take a more relaxed pace through some areas not usually seen. 

While painting miniatures was not an activity I did much of I was able to get a few games in.

Flint & Feather 

Lord of the Rings

A Gentleman's War Skirmish.

Chainmail Bikini in the Scottish Highlands.

I guess I lose points for turning this in late but hey it was fun and that's what counts in a Hobby.