@DintheDin: Thanks muchly, Sir.
I'm not sure about the wine red. Would that work with the pastel-like colours on the rest of her dress? Probably. Not sure which colour I'll go with in the end, but I'm leaning towards light blue. Seems to be the safe bet.
@von Lucky: Cheers!
Right, of course I didn't proceed with anything:
But! We played Longstreet last Friday. It was an introductionary play for Frank Shandy, who is an ACW afficinado. Not so much a 28mm gamer or gamer of battles, but we were rather sure that this set of rules would win him over. Virago and I also hadn't played in 2 years, so we had to re-learn the rules anyway.
This is what the table looked like. We didn't faff about much and just set up 4 infantry regiments on each sides and each of us got a battery of 2 cannons (Napoleons). The additional stuff I (playing the Confederates) put on the table - horse-drawn limber, commander base, etc. - was all just for show. In Longstreet you don't need commander models to be present, but of course it looks nice.
http://sigur.tabletopgeeks.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/18/gallery/games/overview2.jpg The Federal army set up in line, one regiment in column, ready to march into the town. I had 2 regiments with the same plan. My other two regiments were sitting on the right flank and in between I had my artillery battery on a hill. The year the battle would take place was chosen to be 1863.
I started by rushing my two columns into the town.
http://sigur.tabletopgeeks.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/18/gallery/games/earlycolumns.jpg Of course this was of great symbolic value, but the actual result was that I had wedged two columns in a tight spot, in front of me the same number of Northeners, the buildings giving cover but reducing my regimental volley fire to much less effective skirmish fire, so no real use in sitting in the houses. Crap. So my regiments were put in reverse and clumsily retired back behind the church and made their way to the centre of the battlefield.
The civilian population is overwhelmed by the showcase of perfect drill.
The Union army - other than my chaps - elected a different tactic than hare-brained advances and since my cannons couldn't see a thing (and because I had painted the bloody limber thing!) they limbered up to move to the right flank where enemy artillery bombarded my dudes.
http://sigur.tabletopgeeks.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/18/gallery/games/limbering-up.jpgAfter having set up on the right flank my cannons fired maybe two times during the course of the rest of the game, because bad things kept happening (bad fuses, bad powder, bad weather, what ever else).
http://sigur.tabletopgeeks.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/18/gallery/games/rightflank_1.jpgAbove: The right flank. In the background: Firing Union artillery. Even this flank was a bit of a shambles because I lacked the conviction (and the support) to attack due to "Operation Senseless Town Liberation" at the left flank.
... and I was still busy maneuvering my two regiments through the middle of the table. The central Union regiment advanced and a firefight emerged.
http://sigur.tabletopgeeks.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/18/gallery/games/unionfiringline.jpgIn the back you can see column of northern Agressioneers who in rank and file butcher and loot their way through the poor town.
This resulted in this nasty situation:
http://sigur.tabletopgeeks.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/18/gallery/games/end-ouch.jpgHere's an overview of the end:
http://sigur.tabletopgeeks.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/18/gallery/games/endoverview_1.jpgMy cannons had been destroyed, same with one regiment, the two regiments in the centre were being reduced badly and especially the one in the left was looking at grim prospects.
...and that's it! Frank Shandy seems to like the set of rules; same with me. It's got everything you look for in an ACW game. Of course it's abstracted. Sam Mustafa (the author) tends to do that quite a lot, but he still finds ways to work out a very quick, fun and efficient game and still have all these aspects in there. For example there is no morale as such. In theory it's horrible. In practice: 1.) enemy fire also includes morale deterioration, not just physically incapacitated soldiers. The number of bases lost through such casualties though fire or combat may be reduced by dropping hand cards (each player has a hand of 6 cards which may be played for this purpose, for a special effect or to initiate movement/fire/charges). But of course if you want to do that your options for your own turn are reduced drastically. Your officers are busy keeping the units together and in commandable shape. The harsher things get the harder it will be to get your units to do what you want. Once units get in small arms range the cards tend to just melt away and it gets rather hard doing fancy extra stuff.
It reminds me of similar things happening in other games I like a lot (Chain of Command, Sharp Practice). So yeah, it's all there: morale, friction, command&control. The big three things that make rules sets good and interesting.
Clever rules, that Longstreet, and the cards throw in heaps of 'period flavor'.
Hope you enjoyed my little battle report!
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March 13, 2010, 03:04:00 PM