Bailey's Corners

We played another scenario from the Sharpe Practice supplement: The Coming Thunder.

This one is more or less the reverse from the previous one. Union forces are largely in reserve and are included in the deck after firing has started.

The encounter covers the Confederate attack on the 28th Michigan volunteers at Bailey's Corners between August 28-30, 1861.

Union pickets are deployed left of the road in the corn field.

Confederates deploy, trampling the vegetable garden!

At the other side of the table, a formation of Confederates moves a little too close to the edge of the field, where they can be seen by the Union pickets. The Yankees decide to forego their Controlled Volley bonus and fire anyway so reinforcements can arrive.

Union reinforcements enter the table, but the Confederates have lined up to deliver a blow to the Union pickets.

More Union troops are slowly moving through the corn fields to join the fight, but the Union picket is taking casualties.

They also inflict casualties however!

Now the Union picket is taking fire from both sides as the other Confederate formation turns towards them.

Finally Union reinforcements reach a position to fire from.

And they open up on the Confederates.

The Union commander withdraws the battered picket to prevent it being destroyed.

Their buddies are advancing across the road and blast the Confederates.

The other Confederate formation collapses under Union fire and a group breaks.

When both Confederate leaders from the formation that is still holding, are wounded, the Confederates retreat. Victory for the Yankees!

Ball's cross roads

The American Civil War series of games we've been playing continues with the Ball's cross roads scenario from the Sharpe Practice The Coming Thunder supplement by Chris Stoesen. This supplement was written for Sharpe Practice 1 but we did the lazy conversion to Sharpe Practice 2 by using the early war stats from the Sharpe Practice 2 rulebook and giving each side 3 points of support.

The scenario covers the encounter on August 27th, 1861 between D company of the 23rd New York volunteers and a Confederate force from Longstreet's brigade at Ball's cross roads, Virginia. It finally allowed me to use the corn fields I built last summer in a game 😃

The Confederate pickets are deployed south of the road (top of the picture). Their reinforcements can only arrive after the shooting has started.

Union forces advance through the orchard and onto the hill.

More Union groups arrive and open fire on the Confederate pickets.

A Confederate group moves to the right to cover the Union attempt to flank them.

Confederate reinforcements arrive to relieve the pressure on the pickets, who have lost their sergeant.

The Yankees have reached the road and are opening up on the reinforced Confederate flank.

The Confederate center breaks.

The Union force commander has exited the woods and joins the line of Yankees pounding the Confederate flank.

Volleys of Union fire strike the Confederates.

At this point the Confederates voluntarily withdraw from the table. Victory for the Yankees!

We added an extra flag to the card deck (per the rulebook) because of the extra troops. This increased the number of random events. Both force commanders managed to get excrement on their shoe, one (the Union commander) was accidentally shot by his own men and one (Confederate) formation couldn't keep their powder dry and were simultaneously slowed down by thirst.

If only we had spent our support points on a water cart....

Project Star Wars part 20: AT-AT

 I bought one! A 1:53 scale AT-AT. Because of the damaged box it came at a discount.

The head and legs are articulated. Which is great since storage of big things is a problem in my house...

Assembled model

Fits in a suitcase with room to spare for my other Imperial SW stuff

Here are a few comparison pictures of the finished model and some Imperial Star Wars miniatures (the Legion stormtrooper is mounted on a thin base to fit in better with the Imperial Assault stormtroopers):

Imperial Assault Stormtrooper

SW Legion Stormtrooper

With an Imperial Assault AT-ST

I painted a few bits, mainly weathering with GW Nuln Oil.

When I was looking for pictures online as a reference for painting I found out I fitted the "cheek" guns upside down. The short range finder should be above the longer gun barrel. That explained why that part didn't fit well (the rest fit perfectly). 

I checked the assembly guide to see where I went wrong. Turns out there's an error in the assemby guide. While the box art shows the correct position, the guide instructs you to mount it upside down.

Indiana Jones and the lost Aquila: Part six

Part Six: Where the streets have no name

Indy took the Aquila from Don Lardo in Part 5 and brought it to the US. It is kept in the Museum of Appropriated Historical Artifacts, awaiting examination by experts.

Don Lardo is recovering from his ordeal in the desert in a hospital, but he has sent Tenente Strapazo to the US to contact Don Benito. Don Lardo has helped Don Benito escape from Italy to the US, where Don Benito quickly became the capo di tutti capi of the local Mob.

Don Benito has given some henchmen to Strapazo to re-acquire the Aquila. They have managed to sneak into the Museum and get the Aquila.

The FBI has surrounded the Museum and, assisted by Indy, are intending to catch the crooks red handed.

Strapazo has to get the Aquila to the Italian Restaurant, where a getaway car is waiting.

Strapazo and crew move quickly to towards the gate. Agent Smith emerges from cover and takes out Strapazo! Luckily for Strapazo he has the 9 lives trait and converts the "out of action" into a wound.

Indy, Agent Costner and Agent Garcia move to intercept.

The villains push forward, taking fire from Indy and the G-men.

But Strapazo and his henchmen are returning fire. Oh no, agent Garcia is wounded and down, and agent Smith is out of action.

Agents Connery and Costner blaze away at Mario, the mobster who shot agent Garcia.

Meanwhile, Frankie Five Fingers has shot Indy. Strapazo is trying to take advantage of Indy being wounded and down to get past him. But Indy recovers and uses his whip to attack Strapazo.

And Strapazo is out of action!

After taking out Mario, agent Connery is firing his shotgun as he goes, dropping Luigi.

Frankie Five Fingers has missed several times while firing his Tommy gun at Indy, but not this time. Indy is out of action!

Vito has slipped past agent Connery with the Aquila in the confusion and is heading for the restaurant, but he is stopped cold by a salvo from agent Costner's Tommy gun. 

While Frankie is laughing diabolically after dropping Indy, agent Connery tries to shoot him, but he has run out of ammo.

Only two mobsters are now still in the fight: Frankie and Luigi. Luigi has also run out of ammo however and is shot by a recovered agent Garcia.

Agent Connery uses his empty shotgun as club and charges Frankie. Frankie knocks out agent Connery with the butt of his Tommy gun. From the corner of his eye Frankie sees agent Costner taking aim. Frankie decides to get out while he can and leaves the table.

The heroes have foiled the final attempt by Don Lardo to get the Aquila. Indy recovers from his wounds of course. Tenente Strapazo will spend a lot of years in a US jail. Don Benito carries on with a few goons less and the FBI closing in on his operation.

But what if it had gone differently and the bad guys had won?

Then Rupert Jenkins would have shown up with Winston Churchill (who wanted to see the Aquila) to stop them 😀