"ACW AAR - White Sulphur Springs - w/Gettysburg Soldiers" Topic
10 Posts
All members in good standing are free to post here. Opinions expressed here are solely those of the posters, and have not been cleared with nor are they endorsed by The Miniatures Page.
Please be courteous toward your fellow TMP members.
For more information, see the TMP FAQ.
Back to the ACW Battle Reports Message Board
Areas of InterestAmerican Civil War
Featured Hobby News Article
Featured Recent Link
Featured Showcase Article
Featured Profile Article reeves lk updates us on progress at this Champion Hill landmark.
Featured Book Review
|
Please sign in to your membership account, or, if you are not yet a member, please sign up for your free membership account.
FlyXwire | 20 Jul 2014 7:22 a.m. PST |
Hi Guys, Here's some pics from a 15mm ACW scenario I hosted this past weekend at a local game shop. I used the rules Gettysburg Soldiers to play the game, which allowed the action to reach a decision in about 3 hours time (including the time for the rules introduction). The scenario was based on the historical action at White Sulphur Springs (aka Dry Creek), West Virginia, in the summer of 1863, which was a small brigade vs. brigade affair, and something I thought perfect for a first run-through of the rules by both me and the players. I deviated from the historical terrain slightly, by including a stone wall around the primary farm/crossroads area to reflect the barricade the Rebs erected to defend this spot in the real battle. Plus, I used "double stands" for my mounting system, and so instead of the 50 effectives per base that the rules suggest, my infantry & cavalry bases are scaled to reflect 100 troopers (I use "kill" indicators to mark the attrition suffered from combat in order to track the "doubled" step reduction in each stands strength). We liked the results we got with the Gettysburg Soldiers rules, and will be playing this scenario over again to explore different tactics as allowed within the game system.
|
Syr Hobbs Wargames | 20 Jul 2014 7:27 a.m. PST |
Great looking set up. But how did the game play out? Duane |
normsmith | 20 Jul 2014 7:40 a.m. PST |
|
FlyXwire | 20 Jul 2014 8:00 a.m. PST |
Duane, being essential an "equal" encounter – the Confederate Brigade under George S. Patton (Echol's) had night marched and its lead elements had reached the area just prior to the Union advance guard arriving), so the onus of the attack rested on the shoulders of the Union command to force the area. Our game resulted in the Union being stymied as they attempted to force their way up against the defending Rebs who had moved in behind the walls and fenced fields of the area. There may have been a small window of opportunity for the Union to have rushed the central crossroads, and to subsequently pivot off this as their regiments came forward, but this may have required players to have had the confidence of knowing their capabilities within the rules, which none of us have yet since it was our first play with them. This is one reason why I want to run the scenario again – to see if some different approaches might swing the battle, and to further explore some of the tactics allowed with the rules. Gettysburg Soldiers allows regiments to deploy skirmish units from them, so this presents an avenue for small-unit screening tactics, delaying tactics, and independent maneuvering to be used. This appeals to me from a gaming perspective, in that the system can be played a bit like a "skirmish-level" game that's within a tactical battle framework. |
Bede19025 | 20 Jul 2014 2:53 p.m. PST |
Nice terrain. Is the ground and roads painted on? |
FlyXwire | 20 Jul 2014 4:17 p.m. PST |
I textured up the map graphically, and had it printed out on vinyl advertising banner material. I've done a number of game mats this way over the past couple years. At the moment I'm working on the 3D terrain for a 6 ft. X 4 ft., WW2 scenario map for an Eastern Front game I'll host in a few weeks time (it'll be played in 1/285th scale). A sneak peek of this one:
The mat will be populated with some scale built up areas, but right now I'm making up the 3D woods pieces needed for it, in the style similar to those seen used with the Altar of Freedom ACW maps – they're tutorial: 6mmacw.com/forests.html |
Bede19025 | 20 Jul 2014 5:55 p.m. PST |
That's really cool. Can you explain a bit how that's done? (The texture printing in mean.) |
FlyXwire | 21 Jul 2014 5:10 a.m. PST |
Well you have to paint/photoshop your map image, so that draws on those technical skills (no pun intended), but once you have a digital image to your liking, you upload this image file to a storage device which a commercial print shop accesses to print out your mat to your desired dimensions on vinyl sheeting. I use a firm in Indiana, where I input my work order details online, and then upload my image file to their storage server. I've been very happy with this firm – ColorMax, and their service usually only takes a day or two to receive my order back in a sturdy shipper tube at my door step (the tube which I use for the game mat's transporting): colormaxdigital.com Now if one doesn't have the texturing skills to assemble a custom map of their own, there's pre-packaged maps becoming more available now, which allows the purchaser of the image to print them out for their own use. Here's a few excellent looking, full-size mat images that could be printed out on vinyl material and used for a base tabletop game map: link There's also pre-made, map image sections that gamers can buy (from Wargame Vault also), which can either be digitally assembled into larger map arrangements (for printing out as one complete sheet/mat), or left as sections for arranging on the tabletop. Most of these sectional-type map images are "formatted" with the RPG player in mind, and for printing out on paper sheets – letter size or larger, but if one knows how to graphically assemble the sections into a larger collection of the individual map sections (as a single, digital image file), then a larger tabletop mat can be printed from the merged "parts", and printed out on vinyl as a single mat sheet. An example of these sectional-type map images meant for wargaming use: link |
Bede19025 | 21 Jul 2014 6:45 a.m. PST |
Very interesting. Thanks for the explanation. By the way, you might want to post this description on the terrain forum. I'm sure others would be interested. |
FlyXwire | 21 Jul 2014 6:51 a.m. PST |
Bede, good suggestion! I'll try to do that in a cross-post when I write a thread about the up-coming WW2 game scenario/mat. |
|