Happy New Year

Happy New Year, all the best for 2014!

I hope Santa was kind to you all.  He certainly was generous to me, I have a Warlord Games English Civil War Battalia to paint, along with a Gripping Beast 6 pt Anglo-Danish Army, as well as a host of 6mm Heroics and Ros, including the makings of a WW1 British force, various WW2 odds and ends to finish off units and the makings of a 1980's modern French force.  He also bought me Max Hastings' "Catastrophe", which I will enjoy reading once my eyes are back to normal.

Unfortunately, I've had a recurrence of my eye problems and spent the early hours of Sunday 22nd in Casualty and the morning of Monday 23rd at the Eye Clinic, having my eye debrided .... again!  Fortunately, my sight began to come back on Christmas Eve and was significantly better for Christmas Day, so Santa gave me the best present ever.  The latest theory from the clinic is that I may have developed a sensitivity to cyanoacrylate glues (Superglue), which is a pity as I work with the stuff as well as use it for the hobby, so will now have to wear safety specs and use gloves when handling the stuff - probably sensible precautions anyway!

So, an entire holiday with no reading, driving or model-making/painting.  Telly just isn't as good as it was back in the 70's!  Still, it meant I had lots of time to help my lad with his new toys, although the Wii games were beyond me.

So, when I get back to painting, I'll be wrapping up the 6mm Soviet Motor Rifle Regiment.  Then it will be on to the Andreivian Turk irregular forces (some Under Fire Miniatures Chechens and plastic Mujahideen) ready for the Crisis Point game in April.  I'll also be fitting in some 6mm 1980's French for the game at Broughton in September.  In between times, the Saga warband and Warlord Battalia will be slotted in as and when.

So, hope you all had a great holiday season and look forward to catching up in the New Year.

All the best and thanks for looking.

Andy

On the workbench - 39th Guards Motor Rifle Division

I haven't done a lot in the last month or more, due to continued eye trouble.  It now seems I have dry eye syndrome, which means drops and eye ointment indefinitely.  He-hoh!

Anyway, following my success on e-bay a few months back, I thought it was time to get back to some Cold War Commander Soviets.  I'm putting together  the 39th Guards Motor Rifle Division, for operations in the Fulda Gap area of southern Germany in 1985.

On the table at the back are three BTR-60 battalions, each of 11 BTR-60PKs, three companies of three carrying infantry and one company of two carrying support weapons SA-7s, AT-5 Spandrel teams and SPG-9 teams, with two Gaz 66s with 120mm mortars.

In front of this is a battalion of T-62s (as these were in the e-bay purchase) but these will need upgrading to T-72 as 39th was a CAT 1 unit.  In front of these are various engineering assets including a PMP bridge on trucks, two TMM bridges on trucks and other engineering assets.  There are some unpainted engineering vehicles too.  There are also some BRDM-3s, an SA-9 and ZSU23/4 Shilka.

This is a dismounted infantry battalion, rebased as the original e-bay purchase was based for Challenger.

This was my attempt at converting a BTR-60PK into a BTR-TACP FAC vehicle, following Steve Grahams method as laid out in his blog.
http://littleleadarmsrace.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/btr60-tacp-wip.html
Seemed to be a relatively straightforward conversion.  I cut the barrel off with a craft knife.  Cut some card (from an old business card) to shape, bent it to form the platform at the back and super-glued it in place, allowing the glue to soak into the card to stiffen it once set.  Then trimmed some plastic spar to size for the generator and glued that onto the card platform.  I also stuck a small card rectangle over the turret front to simulate a vision port in the turret front.  A quick paint job and "hey presto!"

So, one more infantry battalion to rebase and some engineering assets to finish off and the regiment is ready for the table.

Thanks for looking.

Paint by post and Royal Mail

In case you don't know, Royal Mail has applied an arbitrary restriction on the number of pots of water based paints that can be sent in a single package to 4.  If more are sent they will destroy the package.  If you order paints by post, or even if you don't but would like to be able to, please follow the link to the petition site below  and sign, as Royal Mail will only be persuaded if enough people complain - market forces and all that!  Please do sign even if the target signatures has been reached as RM are more likely to act if they think it will adversely effect business.  If nothing is done, this will directly impact on some of my favourite suppliers like Baccus, Minibits and Pendraken as well as many others.

http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/royal-mail-lift-the-restrictions-on-shipping-water-based-paints?utm_source=supporter_message&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=petition_message_notice

Thanks for looking and thanks in advance for your support.

Battle of Lostwithiel

This Saturday I was lucky enough to be invited to join a select group of 28mm ECW gamers at the Community Centre off Dover Drive in Ellesmere Port.  The event was organised by Aiden, who supplied a large slice of the troops and scenery, while Michael, Dennis and John brought along the remainder of the forces involved.  The table was set up with an impassable river along the eastern edge (River Fowey?), with a fortified village on the western flank.  Us Royalists entered from the northern table edge, while the treacherous Parliamentarians deployed along the centre of the table. The Parliamentarians aimed to exit their infantry off the southern table edge, representing them making it onto boats in Fowey and getting back to safety, while their horse aimed to get off the northern table edge by breaking through Royalist lines, with a view to riding north to Plymouth as fast as possible.  The game was broken up with a series of event cards, which Aiden played whenever he felt things needed livening up.  We played using Warlord Games Pike and Shotte.

Setting up, looking east with Royalists on the left and Parliamentarians on the right.  Dennis (Royalist) is placing his gleaming infantry, with little to indicate the massed hordes of extra shiny cavalry he has waiting to the rear.  John (Parliament) is frantically garrisoning the village and fortifying it with anything he can lay his hands on.

 Some of the Parliamentarian forces waiting for deployment.

 Looking west from the banks of the Fowey.  Dave is placing a battalia of foot which caused me no end of trouble in the centre.

The game ebbed and flowed nicely.  Early Parliamentarian efforts to charge cuirassiers into the Royalist centre came to naught when they were repulsed, although this pinned one of my battalia of foot into a hedgehog from which they couldn't escape for most of the battle.  Having failed to get the horse out, the Parliamentarians tried, with varying success, to withdraw to the south.  In response, the Royalists signalled a general advance with Dennis' infantry storming the fortified village to the west, Mike and I taking on the centre (Dave and Aiden) and Chris keeping the east occupied and putting pressure on the small village at that end.  Ammunition was in short supply, each time a unit fired a card from a deck of 54 cards was removed.  These cards were placed in table in carts of buildings, which acted as arsenals for the armies.  In trying to move one of the carts off table, Aiden threw a double 6, resulting in a colossal explosion, destroying almost half of the Parliamentarian arsenal.  At the same time, a thick fog decended, reducing visibility to 12", greatly restricting the ability of artillery to support.  The ebb and flow of battle dwindled the remaining Parliamentarian ammunition supply to zero, just as a card was drawn which suggested reinforcements had arrived in Fowey and that they needed now to hold on and secure the field of battle.  Simultaneously, Royalist cavalry and infantry arrived on the western flank and attempted to roll up the Parliamentarian flank and storm the remnants of the defenders in the fortified village, respectively.  The end came, by mutual agreement at the point where the Royalists had achieved a minor victory through destroying more units than had managed to exit the table prior to the change in battle plans.

Dennis' cavalry (commanded by Chris) flowing around the rear of the fortified village in the west.

 My unit of infantry in saffron coats, still in hedgehog at the end of the game.  Dave's infantry in red were responsible for keeping them and the infantry in blue pinned more or less where they started.

 Chris's Royalist cavalry flowing around the eastern edge of the battlefield and around the back of the eastern village.

 A general view of the battlefield at the end of the day.

All in all a fun game and day out, played with a friendly bunch of gamers.  I'm going to have to add a 28mm ECW battalia to my collection to keep my end up so to speak.  Thanks to all involved, especially Aiden for the organising.

Thanks too for looking.

21st Panzer Division counterattack - the British perspective

Thanks to Will for his write-up and photos, on his new Hudl, of the weekend game, written from the British perspective (linked below).

http://willwarweb.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/d-day-afternoon-in-6mm.html

It was nice for the German player to be able to use the limited artillery to good effect, multiple suppressions and occasional outright kills of the infantry in the open was about the only effective way of slowing the relentless advance.  Especially when the British could call air strikes, Naval gunfire and two Priest Regiments worth of artillery down on anything that fires.

Thanks for looking.

21st Panzer Division Counterattack - the conclusion

Day two of our games weekend dawned to a typical foggy November morning.  We got on with the action, which largely consisted of the various elements of 21st Panzer hunkering down in any suitable obscuring terrain (mainly Lebisey woods and the outskirts of Caen and Epron), while the British artillery (both Naval and Field) and Typhoons plastered anything in the open.  II Abt of PzRegt 22 lost a couple of PzIVs and Somua S35s to this, but they mainly made it into the woods and took up positions on the northern edge of the woods.  The Pz-pioneers eventually debussed at the edge of the Caen BUA and deployed along the edge of town, with 88mm Heer Flak assets in support.  The 21st Panzer FAOs called down battalion barrages on anything that looked like a concentration of infantry and any armour they could include in the beaten zone.  A recce Stuart stand tried to locate infantry in the woods, but was close assaulted by a pioneer and panzergrenadiers, becoming a casualty.

We called it a day in the early afternoon, having reached c. 6pm in game time, with the 21st Panzer firmly establishing a stopline in Lebisey woods and the edge of Caen and still contesting Epron and Blainville, both of which, especially Blainville, remained vulnerable to British advances, although probably at a high cost.  In the end we agreed that the British and German artillery, while unpleasant to be on the receiving end, was probably pretty realistic.  We thought the use of air power was probably too effective and discussed possibly allowing a random sortie to be available on a random basis, say a 50% chance, but still needing to be called in as usual.  We also felt that the game would have benefited from a wider table layout to allow more room for 21st Panzer to sidestep the advancing British, as they did in the actual battle.  We also considered using a more random appearance for the British (e.g. 6 on D6 on turn 1, 5 or 6 on D6 on turn 2, etc.) and German (6 on d6 on turn 3, etc) off table forces, to simulate delays getting off the beach for the British and Allied airforce interdiction delaying the Germans.

All in all a really enjoyable game with quite a nice flavour for the period.

The British infantry suffering the effects of suppression from artillery as they advance between Mathieu and Epron.  Losses were particularly high in infantry and supports in this area.

 Epron and Caen to the right with Lebisey woods in the centre background/.

 Looking north showing 21st Panzer deployed in Lebisey woods and Epron, with one stand surviving in  Blainville (to the right and behind Lebisey woods).

21st Panzer troops at the edge of Lebisey woods and the stalled British advance beneath Perriers Ridge.

 Looking south from Benouville.

 Looking southeast from Perriers Ridge.

Thanks for looking.

21st Panzer Division counterattack AAR



It's a Deeside Defenders games weekend.  We (Ian and I) had planned a big Sword Beach game incorporating airborne and beach landings plus the push for Caen, but we would have needed about 6 players.  In the event, Will joined us for the day, so, with three players we scaled the game back to 3rd British Divisions push for Caen by 185th Brigade and the counter attack by 21st Panzer.

 

The photo below shows the view of the table looking south with Perriers Ridge at the far end, the eastern table edge representing the Orne River and the outskirts of Caen in the foreground.  

 Looking east.

 Looking north.  A parachute battalion started the game dug-in in Benouville, east of Perriers Ridge, with a company from II Battalion PzGren Regt 192 in Blaineville just beyond and the remainder of the battalion in Lebisey woods.  88mm AT gun assets were placed with the II Batt and in the outskirts of Caen along with Heer AA assets.  The game was scheduled to begin at 3pm game time with the three battalions of 185th Brigade, plus an attached Sherman regiment, entering the table using mobile deployment from north of Perriers Ridge (at the bottom of the photo).

 View along Perriers Ridge, looking west at the end of turn 3.  The British battalions have crossed Perriers Ridge and are approaching Lebisy Woods.

 View looking south at the end of the third turn (3:45pm).  Elements of Kampfgruppe Oppeln are on table moving along the east bank of the Orne, while Kampfgruppe Rausch are partially on table in the suburbs of Caen.

 KG Rauch moving into Epron and the eastern edge of Lebisy woods.

 And again.

 I and II Abt from PZ Regt 22 moving up behind Lebisy woods anchored on the Orne River to the east.

 By move 6, the Germans had learned the power of British artillery and air support.  KG Rauch had lost most of its armoured transport to 105mm Priest artillery barrages, while I Abt of 22nd Panzer had been eliminated by repeated strikes by Naval artillery, Priest barrages and Typhoon strikes.  In the photo the void left by the demise of 22nd Panzer I Abt is to the east of Lebisy woods in the right mid-ground.  KG Rauch has been reduced to dismounted infantry hunkering down in Epron and Lebisy woods,  II Abt Pz Regt 22 and more Pz-grenadiers are moving up behind the woods.  In the distance, the British battalions on the German left and centre have both experienced some Hun hate in the form of concentrated 105mm and 150mm arty barrages, which have hurt the leg infantry quite badly, stalling their advance up to now.

 Looking east, the killing zone between Lebisy woods/Epron and Mathieu/Beuville where movement for both sides is currently a problem.

 Looking south towards Caen in the distance.

This is where we called it a day for Day 1.  Tomorrow will be an interesting contest between the might of British arty and air assets and the pluck of Jerry infantry trying to hold the stop line around Caen.  Interestingly, this is where the 21st Panzer did stop 3rd British Infantry Division historically, although they did manage to get a company of Pz-grenadiers onto the beach before pulling back to Epron at the end of the day.

All in all a fun days play with some interesting thoughts and experiences, particularly the frustrations of getting moving for the British and the devastating effect of British arty for the Germans.  Thanks to Ian and Will for a great game.

Thanks for looking.

20mm Fallschirmjaeger update

I've not been up to much this week with family visiting at the start of the week and a trip to hospital to remove a foreign body from my eye mid-week - I have no idea how it got there!  Since then my vision has been a bit blurry while I've been using antibiotic ointment, so not much point in trying to paint anything.

So, for want of anything more positive to share, here's a picture of the current status of my Fallschirmjaeger Brigade for Rapid-Fire.  I've so far completed the jaegers for three companies for each of the three battalions.  The back row are undercoated command figures, six for each of the battalion commands, plus 6 figures for the brigade command and a two man artillery observer team.  The regular jaegers are Airfix, while the command figures are from SHQ with a few Airfix figures.  I've still got SHQ MG and mortar teams, plus some engineer figures to complete, plus three Zvezda Pak 36 AT guns - I haven't decided whether to modify the regular infantry Zvezda crew or modify some Airfix infantry to act as crewmen.

I did manage a brief game of Flames of War on Thursday night.  My US paratroopers were taken aback by a pair of SS flamethrower half tracks, cunningly disguised as regular half tracks, which allowed the SS to seize an objective and hold it.  Still think it's a good game, but has very little to do with WW2 other than some really nice models.

Hope to be back to normal soon.  Thanks for looking.

Cheers

Andy

21st Panzer Division - Normandy - Kampfgruppe von Luck

The last battlegroup, KG von Luck.

Stab Pz-grenadier Regt 125, CO/HQ in Kubelwagen, pioneer platoon in S307, motor-cycle combination recce platoon and Pak38 with Laffly tow.

II Batt/Pz-grenadier Regt 125, front right HQ in ex-French half-track with 8 Schwere Ko behind with 2cm Flak 38 in U304, 7.5cm Pak 40 on S307 and 8cm Reihenwerfer on S307.  To left, 5 Ko, three infantry stands plus one MMG and four ex-French/Itlian/British truck transports.

6 & 7 Kos from II Batt/Pz-grenadier Regt 125, as 5 Ko above.

On left, 3 Pz-gren Ko from I Batt, Pz-grenadier Regt 125.  On right 4 Ko from I Abt Pz Regt 22, 3 PzIV platoons.  Behind them are a stand each of Reihenwerfer on S307 (10 Werfer Ko - Pz-gren Regt 125) and a 15cm Lorraine SPG (9 SiG Ko - Pz-gren Regt 125).

 I Batt Pz Artillerie Regt 155, 1 battery of 10cm K18 and 2 batteries of 12.2cm FH396(r), all towed by Laffly prime movers.

 Stug-Abt 200, in centre HQ with Lorraine half-track, with 2 stands of 2cm Flak 38 on U304s behind, surrounded by 5 Kos, each comprising a 10.5cm Lorraine SPG, a 7.5cm Pak40 on S307 and a Pzbeobacht Lorraine FAO.  Unfortunately, I seem to have forgotten the 2 stands of pioneers in S303s that should go with the HQ.

So, that should be it for the three KGs as they appeared on D-day, assuming I finish a couple of pioneer stands plus transports for Stug-Abt 200.  For completeness, I've yet to finish off Pz Aufklarungs Abt 21, but they only became available to von Luck late in the day of D-day.  More importantly, I need to put together the six stands of Pak43/41s for Pz-jaeger Abt 200 for defending the approaches to Caen, the SP Flak 38s and Flak 41s for Heer Flak Abt 305 and a R-Vielfachwerfer on S307 for 10 Werfer Batterie of Pz Artillerie Regt 155.

I'm not aware of anyone making a Vielfachwerfer, so might have to cannibalise a Katyusha rocket launcher to mount on a S307 half track.  Alternatively, I might just use a Reihenwerfer vehicle as it would historically provide KG von Luck with off-table fire support.

I think these should be able to keep the paratroopers at Ranville busy for a day or tow.

21st Panzer Division - Normandy - Kampfgruppe Rauch

Next up, Kampfgruppe Rauch.  Still plagued with poor light problems for photography, unfortunately.

Stab Pz-grenadier Regt 192, motorcycle/sidecar recce and CO/HQ, pioneer stand with S303 transport and Pak 38 with Laffly ex-French softskin.

 I Battalion Pz-grenadier Regt 192.  At the back HQ with S303 transport and Lorraine 10.5cm SPG. In the foreground 1 and 2 Kompanies, each three infantry and one MMG in U304s.

 The rest of I Battalion, 3 Kompanie as 1 and 2 above, and 4 Kompanie with one stand each of U304 with 2cm Flak 38, S307 with 7.5cm Pak 40 and S307 with 8cm Reihenwerfer.

 II Battalion Pz-grenadier Regt 192, with HQ with unarmoured ex-French half-track at the front, with 5 and 6 Kompanies, each three infantry and one MMG stands in captured softskin transports (various British, Italian and French trucks, plus some ex-French half-tracks.

 7 Kompanie,as 5 and 6 Kompanies above, plus 8 Kompanie as 4 Kompanie above.  At the back are 9 and 10 Kompanies, one stand of a Lorraine 15cm SPG and an S307 Reihenwerfer.

 Panzer Pioneer Battalion 220, 2 Kompanie at the front, three pioneers, an MMG and 81mm Mortar stand with S303 transports, and 3 Kompanie at the back, as 2 Kompanie but in softskin transports.  On the left is the CO in S303 transport.  1 Kompanie is detached to KG Oppeln.

 II Battalion Panzer-Artillerie Regt 155, batteries 4, 5 and 6, of 2 10.5cm and 1 15cm Lorraine SPGs, each with a Pzbeobacht Lorraine FAO.

This KG provides the infantry support for KG Oppeln's armour, allowing ground taken by the armour to be held by the supporting infantry.

I've almost wrapped up KG Von Luck and I'm still working on Stug Abt 200, Pz Aufklarungs Abt 21  and some smaller elements to complete the Division.

Thanks for looking.

21st Panzer Division - Normandy - Kampfgruppe Oppeln

We're planning a big D-day game at the next club gaming weekend in mid-November. I've spent the last couple of weeks finishing off a 21st Pz Div project that I started several years ago, but never completed.

So, here is Kampfgruppe Oppeln, based on a core of Pz Regiment 22.  I should apologise for the pictures, they seem to be plagued with poor depth of field due to low light levels, so I'll have another go at photographing them once I've finished the whole thing.

Stab Pz Regt 22, front row l-r PzIII recce, PzIV CO, Bergepanzer III, rear row, 3 stands of Flakpanzer 38t.

1 Abt Pz Regt 22, rear PzIII recce, PzIV HQ, 1 Komp, 2 Komp and 3 Komp (each three stands of PzIVs).  3 Komp may be reduced to 2 stands based on a strength return just prior to D-day.  4 Kompanie is detached to Kampfegruppe Von Luck.

2 Abt Pz Regt 22, rear PzS35 recce, PzIV HQ, middle 5 Komp (1 PzIV and 2 PzS35), 6 Komp (1 PzIV, 2 PzS35, 1 PzH39), front 7 Komp (1 PzIV and 2 PzS35) and 8 Komp (1 or possibly 2 PzIV B/C).  For D-day action, there seems to be a lot of debate about whether the French tanks made an appearance or not.  If not, then the entire Regt is represented by a 4 stand composite PzIV Kompanie.

I Batt, Pz-gren Regt 125, rear HQ and 15cm Lorraine SPG, 1 Komp and 2 Komp (each 4 U304 transports, 3 stands of infantry and 1 MMG stand).  3 Komp is detached to KG Von Luck.

1 Komp Pz-pioneer Batt 220, 5 S303 transports, 3 stands of pioneers/engineers with flame, 1 MMG stand and 1 81mm mortar stand).

III Batt Pz-artillerie Regt 155, 2 10.5cm Lorraine (7 & 8 batteries) and 1 15cm Lorraine (9 batterie) stands, each with a Pzbeobacht Lorraine FAO stand.

So, there you have it, the armoured fist of 21st Panzer - 2 armoured battalions and 1 armoured infantry battalion, made up of infantry and pioneers.  Of course, if the French armour was withdrawn as 2nd Abt personnel were withdrawn to be re-equipped with PzIVs, then the force is down to one armoured battalion and one armoured composite company, plus the equivalent of an infantry battalion.  These will be up against the 3rd British Infantry Division pushing inland for Caen on the afternoon of D-day.

Most vehicles are Heroics and Ros, except PzIVs without bazooka screens which are from Irregular.  Infantry are mainly Adler, with one or two Heroics and Ros, mainly mortar men.  Bases are a mixture of ERM and Minibits.  All paints are Vallejo.

Thanks for looking!

First tabletop outing for the 6mm ACW project

Last night at the club Rick and I gave our 6mm ACW armies an outing.  Rick had 5 regiments of infantry and 2 artillery batteries ready, to which we added the 4 regiments of Zouaves from my collection.  That left me with 12 regiments of infantry and 4 artillery pieces.  Rick suggested I come up with a scenario, so I scouted out the free stuff on the Fire and Fury and GHQ web sites and took a look through the Gettysburg scenarios in the recent Wargames Soldiers and Strategy magazine.  In the end I came up with the "Assault on the Iron Brigade" scenario from the GHQ site, supported by additional information from the WSS magazine.  As we were using Black Powder, I pinched a trick from Will at the club and totalled the number of troops present and divided by 400 to get similar sized units.  Surprisingly, this gave the Union and Confederates the same number of troops, 2 brigades of 4 regiments each, with the Union having one additional regiment in reserve, coming onto the table on move 6.  The Rebs got 4 stands of artillery, while the federals only got 2 stands.  Each brigade commander, Meredith and Cutler for the federals and Archer and Davis for the rebs, were rated a leader 8, as was Pegrum the reb artillery commander, while the divisional commanders Wadsworth and Heth were rated as 9.  The game started as the rebs advanced out of the scrub and wheat fields lining Willoughby Run, either side of the Chambersberg Pike.

The initial positions of the troops viewed from the south - McPherson's Ridge on the right, with Meredith's Brigade in column behind and Archer's Brigade astride Willoughby Run..

 View again from the south showing one of Cutlers Regiments around the McPherson Farm, with the federal artillery between the road and railway cut, and the rest of Cutlers Brigade beyond, facing Davis's Brigade which starts on the federal side of the Run.

 Meredith's Brigade on the reverse slope of McPherson's Ridge keeping out of sight of the rebel artillery.

 The situation at the end of turn 2, in the foreground Archer has lost a regiment, while another has fallen back across the Run.  In the middle ground, one of Davis's regiments has routed the federal artillery, while the rest of the brigade have charged home into Cutlers advance regiment on the ridge.

 Davis's brigade with Heth charging up McPherson's Ridge.

 Archer's Brigade hard pressed by Meredith.

 Archer stabilises the situation with the assistance of the rebel 4 stand battery.

 Cutlers advance regiment has broken

 Davis's lone regiment south of the railway cut advances on Cutler's lone regiment around McPherson's Farm.

And I'm afraid that's where my picture taking stopped.  Cutler's regiments on McPherson's ridge charged into Davis's brigade, but were repulsed shaken while their lone regiments south of the cut traded volleys, each becoming shaken.  Meanwhile, the rebel artillery and Archer's surviving regiments were able to shake all of Meredith's Brigade.  This meant that both Union Brigades were broken by turn 5, resulting in them retiring from the field.  The confederates were, themselves, almost bled dry, with each brigade represented by a single viable regiment, all others being shaken.  To follow up the federal retreat would require reinforcement and Archer and Davis would need to spend considerable time rallying their Brigades to get them fit enough to carry on the fray.

All in all a fun game and the figures looked the business.  We completed the scenario in c. 90 minutes, so I lent my rebs to Red and we played out the scenario again.  Rick tried some innovative march moves, one which worked, to move some of Meredith's brigade around behind McPherson's Farm, and the other which didn't, to reinforce at McPherson's Farm with Cutler's brigade - they were hard pounded by the rebel artillery and charged, still in march formation, by Archer's troops.  So, another Reb win, but again a close run thing.

All in all, I felt the game played well and will certainly be adding more forces so that we can lay out some larger and more challenging games in the future.  I am even considering a venture into Naps at this scale sometime in the future.

Thanks for looking.