Yet More Perry Confederates

 Last Wednesday was a "snow day" here in Maryland and I put that time to good use - well good use in terms of miniature painting.  I managed to start and finish 2 Perry 28mm ACW gun crews and a 24 figure infantry unit.

The artillery figures were bare metal and the plastic infantry was still on the sprue when I started so that was blazing fast for me!

 Pictured is the second artillery battery for the Confederates and I used the rifled gun barrels rather than the smoothbore Napoleons.  I'm planning 4, 2 gun batteries for the confederates so I have 2 more to do.

 The infantry unit was modeled with slouch hats rather than Kepi's and has yet to be designated.  I'm think of replacing the flags I've been making myself for all the units with professionally made ones.  I saw some at Cold Wars and they just look a lot nicer than mine.

 As I've said before, I'm a big fan of the Perry Plastic confederate models.  Very easy to assemble and paint.  I have 5 regiments of a planned 10-12 done and should be able to knock the others out well before Historicon in July.

Here's the Confederate army to date, 5 of the 6 completed infantry regiments, 4 guns and crews.  Not pictured is a sixth regiment of Confederate Zouaves which were painted for me by Mike M. (and, therefore, much better than what I can manage).

I picked up A LOT of Perry ACW metal figures at Cold Wars and will start on the command stands, mounted and dismounted calvary and gun limbers shortly.  Both the Union and Confederate armies will be exclusively Perry figures as I just haven't found anything that matches their quality.

Cold Wars Saturday - The Bolt Action Tournament

 Pretty much all of Saturday was consumed by the Bolt Action Tournament, which ran from 9:00 am until 6:00pm and it was a blast.  The tournament was organized and run by Stefan (Sheck2 on the WWPD forums) and he did a fantastic job.

14 players participated with 3 rounds each and played across 7 very nicely done table (all of which were supplied by Stefan).  The tournament was a 1,000 point limit and there was an even distribution of Axis and Allied players.

I brought my Japanese list which consisted of:

- 1 vet LT + 1 rifleman
- 1 Medic, veteran
- 2, 10 figure Veteran infantry squads w/LMG
- 2, 10 figure Regular infantry squads w/ LMG
- 1 medium Machine Gun unit, Regular
- 1 Light mortar, Regular
- 1 Sniper, Vet
- 1 70mm Mtn Gun (light howitzer), Regular
- 1 Type 97 Chi-Ha tank, Regular

As with most events I play in, I didn't take many photos (just one) so you get stuck with a wordy summary.

Game 1
Mission: Demolition
Opponent: Mike A's Vet US para's, 2 12 man squads some support and a M4A3 Sherman

I've played Mike several times in Saga events and he's both a great guy and very fun to play with.  We both adopted the same strategy - sending out tank and about half our forces down each of our left flanks while the other half half defended the HQ.  Mike's forces were smaller being all Vets and caused significant casualties for my troops.  I also discovered that my troops had a hard time dealing with the Sherman - I think we may have scratched the paint a few times but that was about it.  The game ended in a draw as we were both contesting the objectives after the end of the 7th turn.

Game 2
Mission: Top Secret
Opponent: Mike P's British Infantry Swarm (pictured at the end of this post)

I've met Mike a few times at past HMGS con's through the WWPD activities.  He a both a very talented player and very funny during a gaming.  Almost distractingly funny, which may be a very crafty strategy on his part.  His forces was made up of of 5 infantry squads (4 regular and 1 Vet) plus a host of support units including an anti-tank gun but no tanks.  It was a very good match up for my force.  The mission involved capturing and then escorting an objective marker (located in the center)  off the table.  With this scenario most of our forces are pulled into the center and game becomes very bloody.  I managed to win the game as my Medic ran in and grabbed the objective.  Unfortunately the win is a bit tainted as both Mike and I did not remember a tournament special rule that only units with 3 or more figures can grab the marker.  I owe Mike a re-match in the future and I suspect he'll pound my poor japanese into the table - but at least I'll be laughing along the way.

Game 3
Mission: Maximum Attrition
Opponent: Jeff B, Veteran Germans.  Jeff had a unique force structure as he had 2 platoons (1 with 3 squads of Fallschirmjaeger vets and support weapons and a smaller platoon with 2 squads of Wehrmacht vets.  His squad sizes were very small given all the vets.  His forces had no vehicles.  Pictured below is our game after the first turn.

 I adopted a defensive strategy and let him come to me.  Jeff marched up my left flank (left side of the photo) and also brought in a squad from reserve on the left flank.

Attacking the Japanese with an infantry only force is dangerous if you close within 12 inches - I was able to get off several assaults (Japanese can auto assault without regard to pins) and I was able to wear Jeff's squads down.

My tank was immobilized fairly early but did weather 3 hits from a panzershreck.  This game went to the Japanese as the Germans just didn't have enough men to break the flank.

Overall, my tournament result was 2 wins and 1 tie, which was good enough to place me third overall.  I really enjoyed the tournament and will definitely play in another one.

Key learnings:
- The Japanese are very effective against infantry that closes within 12 inches, but lack any real capacity to deal with heavy armor
- Both my light mortar and 70mm gun were just not that effective (which may be to my poor play).  I think it might be better to trade them in for either a medium mortar or perhaps an artillery observer.
- LMGs are not worth the points for Japanese infantry squads.  The majority of the casualties my troops inflicted came from assaults and I would have been better of having 2 additional infantry figures rather than the 20 point cost of the LMG
- Bolt Action is a fun game but comes down to plain luck in terms of order dice pulls for some scenarios where one is trying to get something off the board  (i.e. Top Secret).  I would suggest that those scenarios probably are not good choices for tournaments.
- I had a blast!

Here's a shot of Mike P's Brits - that's a lot of very well painted infantry!

Cold Wars Friday - Friday Gaming

 This weekend I attended the "Cold Wars" gaming convention, which is a HMGS show held in Lancaster, PA.  My first day was some general gaming and the second I played in the Bolt Action Tournament.

My first game was a Flames of War game set in Arnhem.  The GM was Jon Baber (WWPD) who built a superb Arnhem city board - it's one of the best 15mm tabletops I've ever seen.

 I played on the German side and was given Grabner's recon unit, which is pictured here.  The unit was the recon unit that attempted to drive across the bridge and through the Brit Para's with disastrous results.  Lets just say that under my command history was, indeed, repeated.  I got crushed but had a lot fun while doing so.   Who says FOW is ahistorical?

 Here's a shot of the Arnhem game in progress.  I enjoyed it immensely but learned that FOW has become very complex and I need to understand the rules better  - I look forward to a future game of FOW but will, hopefully, be better prepared.

 The next game on Friday was a 28mm ACW game using Regimental Fire and Fury.  My current project is 28mm ACW and I really like the Regimental Fire and Fury ruleset.  The game was put on by the author of the rules, Rich Hasenauer and his friend Mike Pierce.  As you can see, the table and mini's looked great.

 I commanded a confederate infantry brigade and a calvary regiment and attempted to turn the Union right flank.  After a few spirited attacks my forces were pushed back and then the Confederate center was pierced and the game called for the Union.  Despite the defeat, I found the game system a lot of fun.  The game's command system is very interesting and the ruleset has a lot going for it.

After my ACW game, I met up with a bunch of the WWPD guys and played a game of "Zombiecide".  We then retired to the bar and all I can remember is the picture to the left...

All-in-all a great Friday at the con.

Next up, the Bolt Action Tournament.

SNOW DAY in Maryland!!!!!!

Today is officially a snow day!!!! No work, no school but lot's of painting time!!!  Six to twelve inches are forecast.

Granted the picture out my front door doesn't show a lot of accumulation but that's not the point - it's a free day just before cold wars so I can tweak my Japanese list for the Bolt Action Tourney and maybe complete another regiment of 28mm confederates.

It's surprising how much joy a snow day can bring to an adult - perhaps it's true that we never really grow up?

My son's excited because as a High School senior, he doesn't have to make up snow days - He's planning to go sledding and then back to the shop to work on the 'bot's drive train.

Have a happy snow day, fellow Mid-Atlanticers!

More Perry Confederates

 I've completed my fourth 24 figure Confederate Unit (Perry 28mm plastics).   That give me 5 regiments completed (4 regular infantry and 1 Zouave) out of a planned 10 regiments so I have a bit more painting to get done.

 I still need to add a flag and may pick a bunch at Cold Wars this weekend.

 In addition to infantry, there's also been some artillery added to the mix with 2 completed Perry Napoleonic guns and crews.  These are Perry metals and what can I say the figures are superb and deserve a much better paint job than I can manage!

I really like the poses of the crew to the right - running out the guns.   As for the Union forces to oppose the confederates, I've chosen to cheat a bit and outsource the bulk of the painting to MMPS.  MMPS did a great job on some Peninsular / War of 1812 Brits for me and I recommend there services highly.

Since this blog is becoming as much a Robotics blog as a miniature one, here's a picture of my son (right) right as he was learning that his team (3113 "Some Disassembly Required" had earned a spot in the World Championship.  The picture was taken by the coach of another team.

The team has been very focused as they prepare for Worlds, which are held in St Louis, MO from April 24-27.  I doubt there will be a lot of progress on my planned Historicon game until May.

Robotics Team Invited to Compete in the World Championship

Saturday was the Maryland State Championship and my son's team (3113) earned a berth to compete in the World Championship next April in St. Louis - it's a pretty big deal in the robotic's world and very exciting for my son and his team (as well as the coach - me!).  This will be our second trip there and we're very much looking forward to the event.

My middle school team also competed in the Championship and did very well, placing 7th out of 32 teams.  They were the youngest team in terms of age and competed against all High School age competitors so not a bad showing at all.

With two teams competing, I didn't get a chance to take any pictures so I'll add some later once i get some copies.

The only bad news is there will be limited time for modeling between now and Worlds, so my standings in the Analog Hobbies painting challenge will continue to decline.  I did mange to finish another confederate infantry regiment this morning.

Robotic's Team Wins

 My robotics team won another event this past Saturday.  As I've babbled on before, I coach several robotics team and the one that was competing was team 4976, which is made up of middle school aged scouts from my son's Boy Scout Troop.  They're competing is a High School lever competition so it pretty tough for them.  Well until last saturday because they won.  The first picture shows the team (on the right) with their alliance mate after winning the Marriotts Ridge Qualifier.   Doing so has given them an invitation to the Maryland state championship.  My other team (3113, which my son captains) has already qualified so I'll have two teams in the state championship in three weeks.

 Here's a shot of the drive team, their all 12 or 13 years old and showed great poise in a tough competition.

The last photo is a shot of the alliance after the last match.  Saturday was a great day and I think the best quote came from one of my scouts who was asked by a someone from another team in a bit of a mocking way "What do you guys hope to do here?"  His reply with out missing a beat "Kick High-Schooler Butt!"

They did a great job and now we have a three week dash to get ready for states!

Perry Plastic Confederate Infantry: A Review

 I've embarked on yet another new wargaming project - the American Civil War (ACW) in 28mm.  What spurred this madness into being?  It was those crafty Perry Brothers and the release of their 28mm Plastic Confederate Infantry set.  Each box contains 44 figures - 40 Infantry figures on 8, 5 figure sprues and 4 Command figures on 2, 2 figure sprues.

I've managed to complete 3, 24 figure infantry regiments and you can see the pictures to the left of this post.  Overall, I would rate this set as superb and highly recommend them to anyone interested in 28mm ACW.  Two big thumbs up.

Positives:
Each infantry sprue has arms so you can model a figure as advancing or with their rifle/musket shouldered and the arms mix and match with each figure.  In addition there are ten hats types per sprue which allows you to mix the headgear.  That's a big plus for trying to simulate the mix of equipment that was common in the confederate army.

The bayonets are a bit more to scale with these figures than the Perry Plastic Napoleonics (i.e. they are thinner) that's a big plus for looks but they can break (I broke one during the building process).  Being plastic such issues are easily fixed.

The sculpting is very clean and these guys are a breeze to paint.  Assembly was very quick and simple.

The command sprue has an officer figure who is holding a pistol and a sword in its scabbard along with a drummer.  The is also a set of arms holding a flag pole.  One note - the drummer figure has the sash for holding the drum molded on and isn't a good choice to hold the flag - use one of the infantry figures.  I figured that out after my third flag holder - Dohhhhh!

Opportunities for Improvement:
I only have two suggestions for improvement and they are both very minor.  (1) I tend to replace plastic flag poles with brass rod as they don't hold up all that well to table top wear and tear.  Having the flag pole and bearers arms molded as one piece makes that a bit harder to do - it would be a lot easier if the flag pole was a separate piece.  (2) (and this one is just a nit) The flags on the painting guide are very bright in their printing and don't look all the nice on the models.

Overall, I highly recommend this set of figures.  I've purchased 5 boxes and plan to get another 5 as I flesh out my ACW force.

I would rate these a 10 out of 10, but then again I've been accused of being a Perry fan boy in the past.  Guilty as charged!

Robotics, robotics, robotics....

 Not a lot of painting is going on right now over here in the Lair.  It's all robotics with my son being on two different teams and me being a coach.  It's rather hectic and will be until April.

Pictured is Sean's FTC team (3113) which is made up of scots from his Boy Scout troop.

 This years competition involves playing a form of tick-tack-toe.  The robot needs to take the rings from the dispenser (on the right) and place them on the scoring rack (on the left).  The higher the level, the higher the points and there are bonuses for getting three in a row.  There are extra points for raising your alliance partner robot off the mat - we use a scissor bridge concept.

Oh yeah, this is all done while an opponents robot is ramming you while playing defense - it's great fun.

The team is fund raising right now and have set up an Indie Go-Go site.  Take a look if your interested:

http://www.indiegogo.com/Team3113/x/1869900

Looking Back on 2012 and Ahead to 2013

Yes it's once again time for my year end wrap up and look forward for this year.  I try to time putting this stuff out when most readers are really not interested in reading any further recaps - that way none of you will remember my goals for this year!

Overall for both a gaming and personal level, 2012 was a very good year and I find myself to be  grateful for what I have.

From a gaming aspect 2012 was very productive. My final painting tally exceeded what I hoped to get done and I completed my War of 1812 project.  Here's my painting tally for 2012:

28mm:
- Infantry                   346
- Calvary                     21
- Elephants                    2 (they do deserve their own line!)
- Artillery                      4
- Vehicles                     5

15mm (all Flames of War)
- Infantry                     75
- Artillery                      3
- Vehicles                     10

Other accomplishments in 2012 include
- build 6 feet of turf fort for my Hail Caesar Game
- Building 50 square feet of section terrain boards and the large hill that were used for my Fall In Game
- The 1/1200 scale port

All-in-all a productive year

But how did I do vs my goals that I set out for the year?  Unlike last year, most of the goals were achieved:

(1) Attend the 2012 HCON and Host a game             ACHIEVED   
I put on two successful Hail Caesar games (pictured above) and had a great time at HCON.  I've already got hotel reservations for this year's HCON.  I also attended Fall IN and put on a War of 1812 game that was OK - it could have used a bit more play testing.  I think going forward I'm only going to shoot for putting on one convention game per year.

(2) Finish the War of 1812 Project                                ACHIEVED
Well it's achieved as much as only army can be said to be complete - there always stuff that can be added but I do have two largish British and US armies (roughly 400 figures each) and the Brits will double for the Peninsular so that's a big plus.  I'll be adding some bits and pieces - more indians and Canadian Militia but it's good to at least have to project in the "complex" column.  I should point out I did cheat a bit in the British were all painted by others (that's why they look so good!)

(3) Host 4 games at my house                                        ACHIEVED
I hosted 4 games of Trafalgar and many, many X-Wing sessions with my son's robotics team while they were on break from metal working.  I'd like to host some more game next year with a focus on Fanticide which is a great new game from Alien Dungeon / Architects of War

(4) Redesign Game Room                                              PARTIALLY ACHIEVED
The game / project table was rebuilt with a lot more under table storage and I installed a workbench just for painting.  What didn't get done was a wall mounted TV and a larger white board plus some game room appropriate artwork

(5) Remain Gaming Era Neutral                                     EPIC FAIL
My original goal was to stay neutral on game systems / era - any new addition must be offset by selling / giving away an old.  Lets see how we did

Additions: X-Wing, Faniticide, Regimental Fire and Fury, Bolt Action
Subtractions: zip (I think this is where the problem may be)

(6) Get back into Model RailRoading                            POSTPONED
I am planning to add a G-Scale garden rail road but have decided to put that off for at least 5 years,  My son is a High School Senior now so grand kids are 10 or so years away and I'm told that's the real purpose of a Garden railroad!

Overall I did pretty good on the 2012 goals.  So what's up for 2013?  Here we go:

(1) Attend and Host a big game at Historicon - it maybe Hail Caesar again or perhaps an ACW

(2) Finish the 28mm ACW Project (two playable armies)

(3) Compete in 2 types of tournaments during 2013

(4) Finish my game room remodel

(5) Place in the top ten of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Competition

In closing I do owe a debt of gratitude to Curt over at Analogue hobbies for running his annual painting competition.  I doubt I would have had half the productivity I had in 2012 with the impetuous and fun of participating in his event.  Here's to even more productivity in 2013!