Hobby Bunker campaign (8) Yankees snatch victory from defeat in the Valley

 This quiet cross Roads farm became the sight of my 8th battle with John's Union Army John won the scouting throw and elected to defend.

 John deployed along the road and began digging in his deployment put his artillery on his flanks in this way he kept me from slipping cavalry along the flanks.  But my main thrust was toward the center and the objective(cross roads).

The terrain gave me cover on my aproach. John's cavalry got hurt early on by my artillery as it moved down the road.

 They then slipped off to the right and will show up again latter. The Louisiana Tigers would sweep forward and take objective... securing my fist epic point

 My first Charge using Rebel Yell was thrown back so both John and I earned an epic point.

 John took aim on the Tigers with his Heavy Rifles but I managed avoid damage at this time.

 Sweeping forward to fire at close range.  I hit john on his turn with Couldn't hit an elephant but  John has batteries on both my flanks striking several of my units and inflicting some damage but I mostly avoiding serious harm using my cards carefully.

 Second Charge with Rebel Yell this time John's troops are driven back with heavy losses and I gain another epic point

 John hits me hard with his artillery then hits me with the Couldn't hit an elephant card freazing me and probably keeping me from gaining 2 epic points (one for a charge, one for the win) I missed rolling over john's shatter point by 1 point.

 John mean while has gotten his cavalry around behind me... almost into position. I lack the cards for an effective battle but I hang on to one to keep John at bay...

I use old Rivals to save my guns but John has hit me for many casualties and he can win on a 5 or 6 and he rolls a 6.  This was one of our closest battle, both of us used are cards well.  I played well tactically sweeping in using cover early in the game to seize and hold the objective but John's Yankees were resilient and held on to gain the win doing a lot of damage with his artillery.  John leads me by one epic point going into the last game.

Trees

So one thing I would recommend to any one looking to play Longstreet is take a look at your terrain collection and no matter how many trees you you have, get more!

 Trees are the most common terrain card and I have run out several times!  so I have been buying them on sale when I can. 

These have some great laser cut base made by AJ I purchased mine from Adler Hobby (you can't order through the website but you can call the number) at Huzzah (bases not the trees) you can get them there or you may be able to order them from AJ directly, its a great selection of sizes and shapes and I have some other terrain projects planned using the rest of the set.

Knights of St. John psiloi (archers and light infantry)

Irregulars are key part of the Knights army representing the common Maltese and other non-noble support for the Order.

These archers are probably mercenaries from Europe. They look like English longbow men which is unlikely by the time of the Great Siege as only one English knight still in the Order.

These fellows are Maltese soldiers many of whom fought and died defending their island along side the Knights.

Knights of St. John Blades (dismounted Knights) and Camp

A key component of the Knights of St. John Army are the knights them selves you get on unit of knights and a General who is also a knight. They can be mounted or dismounted. When dismounted they function as Blades DBA's catch all term for infantry who use hacking, slashing stabling and bashing weapons with a relatively short reach.

I feel like two of these guys are missing their shields, but none came with the set... maybe I can find some that will work.

The mace and sword combo fellow looks quite add ass in more Hollywood than history sort of way.

The general stand looks a lot like the knights but two of the men have fancy hats.  I wish one of the spears was longer so I could mount a banner to it.

The detail on the Armor is very good as I expect from Essex though these are not my favorite figures from them.

DBA armies have a camp and this is mine.  Its a 10mm scale piece from JR Miniatures  the coloring is based on images of the forts at Malta like the famous Fort St. Elmo

Truth be told it doesn't look all that much like the fortifications built by the Order of St. John but its the symbolism that counts. I'm not sure what I think of the trees at the back, its a nice touch in theory but I am not sure it worked in execution.

The figures are over sized of course but one unit fits in nicely so it will function well for the game.

St. John's Pikemen

These are Essex Pikemen from the DBA Army Knights of St. John that Rob gave me for Christmas.

The First set of 4 is in some sort of quilted armor with kite shields

This set of 4 pikemen has chain mail and helmets so they are more heavily armored not that it matters in DBA. I also like the Shield forward stance better.

Warmonger Minatures Kickstarter

I just came across these guys ans since they are based in Worcester MA I felt I should provide a linke

They are working on what look like some fine 10mm Lansknechte figures.  They have just over 50 hours to go right now so check them out and support them if you can.

10mm German Landsknechte with Zweihänder (Great Swords) by Warmonger Miniatures

Footlight Club (charitable apeal)

I'm not active in Community theater but several  of my friends are.  One of them brought this issue to my attention and I wanted share it and hope that some of you might be in a position to lend a hand.

Footlight Club Fire Safety Systems

The Footlight Club has an urgent mandate from the Boston Fire Department to upgrade our fire alarm and fire suppression systems.

 

The Footlight Club in Jamaica Plain, America's oldest community theater, has been in continuous operation since 1877, producing plays and serving the community in our home, historic Eliot Hall. As a nonprofit, we are run completely by volunteers who maintain our beautiful building and raise funds to sustain it for the future.

Right now we have an urgent mandate from the Boston Fire Department to install new fire alarm and fire suppression systems throughout Eliot Hall. Our architects and engineers estimate the cost at $140,000 to $186,000. And our annual budget is about $140,000 so we need your help!
Right now you can double your impact because a wonderfully generous anonymous donor has offered to match every dollar you give--up to $30,000! Every dollar counts.
Please help us make these urgent fire safety improvements by making a contribution.
And check out our upcoming productions at www.footlight.org. Thank you!

It would be a shame to let such a community institution pass away due to the mere lack of money.

Hobby Bunker Game Day and other news

5th Annual Hobby Bunker Games Day! / Historic Games Day
Saturday August 23rd, 2014

Some Events: Ypres 1914 100th Anniversary 28mm Black Powder Modified Rules,

Bolt Action WWII 28mm and others TBD. Please contact Richard at charles@bostontrainedbands.com for more information in participating or to be a gamemaster.
Last year we had over 50 gamers over the day with 11 games.

 Players $5.00, GM's free.
www.bostontrainedbands.com

The Ypres event was a hit at Huzzah!  Historical games are favored but last year we had a large X-Wing game as well. Mike Paine usually runs his Pulp era Game as well.

I may run a game as but am undecided at the moment.You can see past Game Day AARs here

In addition I have a number items on sale on eBay

Union Troops for Longstreet

The Yankees are on the March! I have been using a lot of Blue paint lately!  A Union Brigade is taking shape, its not a historical brigade and its a mix of eastern and western units, just a mix I felt was interesting and semi representative.

The 12 Massachusetts you've seen these already but with out their color guard and officers. Know as Webster's Regiment for their original Colonel Fletcher Webster. Col Webster killed at second Bull Run/Manassas but the regiment was active for most of the War

15th Wisconsin I went to college in Wisconsin so I have a tie to that state and I though including the Scandinavian Regiment would be a nice bit of flavor.  I find the ethic regiments of the Union Army very interesting. They speak to how we thought of our selves and our communities in the 19th century (and maybe to day as well)

 

The 6th Massachusetts as Massachusetts is my home state I will be forgiven I hope if they are "over represented." This was not a regiment with a glorious battle history but it was made up of men from Lowell Massachusetts were I currently live and as they were the first Union regiment to Reach Washington DC I felt they should be represented.  Some times know as "the minutemen of 1861" the regiment is most famous for its participation in the Baltimore Riots.

 The 35th Indian I liked the idea of an Irish regiment from someplace we(New Englanders at least) don't think of as having a strong Irish identity. That and the Green Kepi made a regimental distiction that just had to be represented.

The 39th New York Garibaldi Guards, with their flashy uniforms. I took a liberty with history and did the hat plumes in red rather than black because it stand out so much better.

Finally the 54th Massachusetts is my African American unit to add to the brigade in the late war. The regiment was made justly famous by the movie Glory.

DSG Free Blades bandit character.

On a completely unrelated note DGS Games has a Kickstarter running and they have asked me to remind those who may be interested that it will complete in 42 hours. They have 7 faction for their Free Blades game already and this one is to add an 8th the Kuzzaarik (Dwarves).  The Miniatures are great especially the Female figures who look like warriors not pinups with swords.  I have not played the game but everything I hear is positive.   The figures them selves are worth pursuing for any one who like fantasy figures for wargaming or RPGs.

Longstreet Hobby Bunker Campaign Post battle (7)

As my dedicated readers know the last battle was disastrous defeat for the Confederacy.  Not only did I suffer terrible casualties but John also managed to rack up a bunch of Epic points.

The Post Battle process was reasonably kind to me. I couldn't quite make good my Artillery losses but I now have 5 Heavy Rifles but I will be down two barrels from my previous list and John will have a full 9 guns to come after me with.

I use Hail to the Chief and 2 replacements to keep my Cavalry at a useful level... I might just get a scouting bonus in the next battle (probably not). I have merged the Louisiana Tigers and 3rd Arkansas into the Trans-Mississippi provisional battalion.  I promoted the Shenandoah Militia to Veteran and renamed them.  Transfer gave me the 22nd Virgina a unit I picked because its commanded by one Col. George S. Patton Sr. I was still at only 42 of a total strength of 46 (thanks to Friend tin the state house) so the 45th North Carolina joins the army.   

I've still got an army to be reckoned with and I need a good performance in the next battle, this is do or die time for earning Epic points.  It will be a couple of weeks before John's Schedule and mine permit a game.

Union Heavy Rifles

Painted up the last of the Stone Mountain 20 and 30 Pounder Parrott Rifles  that I picked up on eBay. The crews are all Bluemoon figures.

 The officer zeros in on a target as the crewman uses a hand spike to adjust the aim of the gun at his direction.

 One crewman prepares to load the gun while a second stands ready with the priming fuse.

Standing ready with the lanyard in hand while the sponger sands ready to swab out the gun as soon as the shot has been fired.

Agent D

This Fellow is Reaper Miniatures Dr. Watson (I presume of Sherlock Homes Fame).  I thought he would make a fun and versatile figure.  

With is late 19th early 20th century kit he won't look out of place in old west games or pulp games I actually got him with the idea that he might be a character in Mike Paine's fictional Chinese city of Hanghai.  The idea was that he might be a distant scion of the Grand Duchy of D'Argent living in Hanghai running a "Gin Joint" that has a certain resemblance to a place called Rick's in Morocco.  Naturally this is a cover as he is realy an agent of some European government or  wealthy patron. 

. 

I'm a little conflicted with how the dark blue hat works with a gray suit but mostly I am pleased with how the paint job came out.

Mikes games have a long history of people donating characters (who they get to play when they are present) and I think this fellow will be a nice addition to his collection if I ever manage to get it to him. 

 

 Mike's games are always fun he ran it as Huzzah and is taking part in the Open Gaming Convention July 25th to 27th in Nashua New Hampshire.