Tuxedo Junction

Another ACW scenario, this time one from WSS magazine 108. Confederate raiders attempt to capture a railway station, held by a Union force.

One Union group occupies the railway station, the rest of the force arrives either via the village or the camp. A group of Union cavalry can enter on any point of the Union table edge.

The cards favour my opponent's Confederates, however, and his cavalry is first on the table.

More Confederates advance towards the railroad.

And they keep coming.

My Union troops finally arrive from their assigned entry points.

The Confederate cavalry have dismounted and are sniping from behind the train. My plan for the Union cavalry is to dash forward, go around the dismounted Confederates, also dismount in the woods and destroy them from behind.

A disastrous plan as it turned out.

It started quite succesful. The Union cavalry crossed the railroad and the fence in their first move.

But the Confederate dragoons quickly turn around and start inflicting casualties on the Union cavalry.

Unfortunately opportunities to fire at my Union cavalry are plentiful since the Confederate leader's card keeps appearing while the Union cavalry is slow to reach the woods.

On the other side of the table, my small group of Union infantry is facing increasing numbers of Confederates.

They buckle under the massed Confederate fire and are forced to withdraw.

Their comrades rush forward to relieve the pressure.

Meanwhile the tattered remnants of the Union cavalry have reached the woods.

In an attempt to save them from being annihilated, the Union group holding the railway station charges towards the Confederate dragoons, but fail to reach them.

The next attempt is more succesful and they engage in fisticuffs.

And lose!

The wounded Union lieutenant orders his remaining troops to fire at the Confederates.

This has the desired effect and the Confederate dragoons retreat, but they are still able to add some shock to the Union cavalry, pushing them off the table.

This is the moment when I find out that a level 3 Union leader routing can drop your force morale 3 points! With only one morale point left and two out of three units about to break while the Confederates were still at a morale level of 9, I called it a Confederate victory.

For me this was a lesson in "how not to use cavalry". Next time I'll take better care of them and I'll keep level 3 leaders far from the table edge :-)

 

Magnum PI

 

I really loved the series back in the eighties and thought it would be great to play Magnum PI games using Fistful of Lead rules.

There are two 28mm Thomas Magnum miniatures that I'm aware of: one by Crooked dice and one from the Zombicide game, but I didn't like them. After a lot of browsing I bought a pack from Artizan designs Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang range (KKBB202 - Field Agents). Two miniatures from the pack were suitable for Magnum and Rick (swapped Rick's pistol for a spare UZI from the Project Z women survivors sprue). For TC, I used a Warlord Games USMC plastic mini with a head from the Project Z survivors sprue.

I'm still looking for a suitable Higgins miniature. Preferably in desert/tropical British uniform:

Thought about using a Copplestone figure (with a head swap) but it's too big when standing next to Magnum and Rick:

Dobermanns I have (I think from Black Cat miniatures):

And of course the Ferrari (die cast Western Models WP110 Ferrari 308 GTSI):

This Academy kit provided TC's chopper:

Still searching for a suitable Higgins figure though.

Indiana Jones and the lost Aquila: Part four

Part Four: Into Darkness

Don Lardo and his minions have entered the cave under the Lost Temple. Indy had to wait for reinforcements after being defeated in Part Three.

Fortunately his companions Rupert Jenkins and Ginger have recovered from their injuries received in Part Two. They've enlisted the help of adventurer Sir Bartleby and his assistant Jarvis. 

Together they subdue the guards left behind by Don Lardo at the cave entrance and descend Into Darkness.

The Heroes

The Villains

We used the FFoL Darkness rules for fighting inside the cave, with an additional rule: characters can carry torches (if they're not carring two-handed weapons). This increases visibility range to 18" but makes the one carrying the torch easier to hit with ranged weapons.

Inside the cave Don Lardo has found the Aquila! When his minions are finished wrapping it in protective material near their campfire they hear sounds coming from the cave entrance. On their guard, they are moving to investigate.

Indy and friends decide to split up into two teams, each exploring a different cave tunnel.

Sir Bartleby has extinguished his torch

Don Lardo's minions are moving forward to engage Indy's party while the Don himself is valiantly guarding the camp.

Contact! Jarvis throws his torch to the center of the cave tunnel, revealing Emir the Bloodthirsty who, being just out of charge distance, keeps firing his revolver at Jarvis until he's out of ammo (hitting only rock).

In the other tunnel, tenente Strapazo and marino Corsa perform a classic pincer move in the darkness  and gun down both Sir Bartleby and Ginger.

Sir Bartleby makes a succesfull recovery roll and starts beating marino Corsa with his walking stick.

Tenente Strapazo has put Ginger out of action and is signalling to Don Lardo, who is carrying the Aquila.

Meanwhile Jarvis has lit another torch and taken out Emir the Bloodthirsty with a well aimed shot. But he and Indy are now facing three approaching henchmen.

Despite holding a torch and being at point-blank range, Indy and Jarvis take out all three henchmen.

The ruckus has angered a really big snake (joker card), which is slithering towards Indy! Using his whip to strike from a safe distance, Indy takes out the snake.

The fight in the other tunnel is not going well for the heroes. Sir Bartleby has lost the fight and now Don Lardo and the marines are moving towards the cave entrance.

It's not over yet, however. Rupert Jenkins is waiting for them.

Joined by Indy, Rupert incapacitates the tenente, while Jarvis tries to intercept the Don, who is sprinting towards the exit with the Aquila.

Indy engages marino Corsa, but the Don is too fast for Jarvis and escapes off table. Victory for the villains!

Don Lardo manages to slip away, being joined later by "tough as nails" tenente Strapazo. Indy and his friends search the cavern and the camp but must conclude that Don Lardo has the Aquila. 

Italy is far away however and a lot can still happen before Don Lardo can get the Aquila to Rome. Because quitters never win and winners never quit, Indy will return in part five of The Lost Aquila!