CapnJim's Pulp Stuff (2nd Matewan Convention Game AAR - Pg 15...08 Nov 23)

[CapnJim]

Thanks.  As I mentioned, I really enjoyed painting them.

[CapnJim]

Here are my latest figures to add to my US Prohibition Era Wars collection.  I'm preparing to run a Battle of Matewan (WV, USA) scenario later this year at cons.  Matewan was one of the opening engagements in the West Virginia Coal Mine War. 

The first 6 pics are 28mm Footsore Irish War of Independence civilians.  They are eminently usable for my 1920's US scenarios (including Matewan).  Of these, of course, women and children first.  Then the menfolk.  Then the whole lot together.

The last 2 pics are WIP shots of some coal miners/townspeople for Matewan I converted.  The first is guys with shotguns.  They have Wargames Atlantic plastic partisan bodies and heads, with Warlord WW2 plastic arms and shotguns.  And (it's hard to see in the pic) the guy in the middle has a cigar in his left hand.  The 2nd of these pics show guys with rifles, and a guy with a pistol.  The guy with the lever gun has a WA plastic body and head, and GEG plastic cowboy arms and rifle.   The middle 2 are GEG Chicago Way metal figures with cigars added.  The guy on the right has WA body, head, and weapon arm, and a Warlord right arm (with the grenade carved out and a metal pipe added).  I have 11 more figures straight outta the box/blister to go in this batch 9WA plastic partisans, and GEG Chicago Way metal figs).  Most of these 18 figures will be armed townspeople/coal miners, but a couple will be Baldwin-Felts detective agents.  Once these are painted, I'll be sure to post pics.

[carlos marighela]

Very nice!

[Digits]

I’m liking the WA conversions…where are the shotguns from?

[CapnJim]

Very nice!

Thanks, Carlos...

I’m liking the WA conversions…where are the shotguns from?

Thanks!  The 2 Winchester 1897 shotguns are from Warlord's Bolt Action plastic American GIs set (the 2nd one).  The one over his shoulder came with the arm molded that way. and the one being fired is a separate gun on the sprue, with Warlord plastic German Grenadiers arms.  The double-barrel gun came on one of Warlord's ProjectZ survivor weapons sprues as a separate gun.

[carlos marighela]

Bought  a couple of these for conversion purposes, as they look good for the period and locale. Eventually I'll get around to making a UMW union banner.

https://www.eurekamin.com.au/product_info.php?cPath=87_126_862&products_id=13348

[FreakyFenton]

Oh, I did not know of the West Virginia Coal Mine War, another topic I have to look into.

The conversions are great, and I have to agree the WA Partisans lend themselves to conversions.

EDIT: Are any labour sluggers going to make an appearance?

[mikedemana]

Looking good. I hope to see the scenario played (or get to join in) at a convention later this  year... 

Mike Demana

[CapnJim]

Bought  a couple of these for conversion purposes, as they look good for the period and locale. Eventually I'll get around to making a UMW union banner.

https://www.eurekamin.com.au/product_info.php?cPath=87_126_862&products_id=13348

Oh, they should work.  Nobody was waving any banners at Matewan, but I can certainly see them at the 3-Days Battle, Blair Mountain, or any of the hundreds of strikes/protests/rallies...

Oh, I did not know of the West Virginia Coal Mine War, another topic I have to look into.

The conversions are great, and I have to agree the WA Partisans lend themselves to conversions.

EDIT: Are any labour sluggers going to make an appearance?

Thanks.  Those partisans are proving very versatile.  I've gone through a whole box of them, and I haven't even done up any WW2 partisans yet...

No Labor Sluggers down in WV. They were up in NYC during the same time as the WV Coal Mine Wars.  Nicknames down there were Gun Thugs (the mine company guards) and red Necks (the miners and their supporters).  I'll have both in my Matewan scenario...

Looking good. I hope to see the scenario played (or get to join in) at a convention later this  year... 

Mike Demana

Thanks, Mike.  My plan is to run the Matewan scenario at Advance the Colors in October.


I just got back from a visit to Matewan.  Walked around the area where the gunfight took place - it looks a lot like it did in 1920.  Went to the Mine Wars Museum in Matewan, too.  The museum's ED and a Board-member were really excited that I plan to run games based on the battle.  They even want photos and reports, so they can run (an) article(s) in their quarterly mini-magazine.

I have 16 armed miners/townsfolk to paint, as well as 2 more Baldwin-Felts Detective Agents (the Gun Thugs).  And, I have 4 downtown store-front buildings to put together.  Once that is done, playtesting with Gene and Ted can commence...

[mikedemana]

The museum's ED and a Board-member were really excited that I plan to run games based on the battle.  They even want photos and reports, so they can run (an) article(s) in their quarterly mini-magazine.

Great outreach for our hobby, Jim! I'm sure there are those out there who are fertile ground for recruiting into miniatures but don't know about us. And they are very likely the museum-going types (or "fellas," as you'd say...  ). Can't wait to see the game at Advance the Colors, Oct. 13-14, in Springfield, Ohio!!

Mike Demana

[FreakyFenton]

No Labor Sluggers down in WV. They were up in NYC during the same time as the WV Coal Mine Wars.  Nicknames down there were Gun Thugs (the mine company guards) and red Necks (the miners and their supporters).  I'll have both in my Matewan scenario...


Thank you for the reply, Jim! I will follow the thread with interest!

[CapnJim]

Thanks, fellas!

Painting on the rest of the figures for Matewan starts later today...updates to follow as events warrant...

In the meantime, I'm running my "Rob the Mail Truck" gangster scenario twice Saturday at Drums at the Rapids at Fort Meigs in Ohio.  AARs will follow, for sure, then back to Matewan prep...

[v_lazy_dragon]

Looking forward to seeing the miners and gun thugs finished! Always found Matewan an interesting piece of history

[CapnJim]

Looking forward to seeing the miners and gun thugs finished! Always found Matewan an interesting piece of history

Thanks!

Painting has begun on my batch of 18 figures I'll be using for Matewan.  Pics of the first 9 (2 Baldwin-Felts gun thugs and 7 miners/townsfolk, all with long guns) should appear here next week.  The other 9 (miners/townsfolk with shotguns and pistols) should appear not long after that...

Then it's on to a bit of terrain.  Got 4 brick 2-story storefronts to build (one will be Chambers Hardware, where it all began, and another the Post office).  And I wanna build 2 Railroad crossing signs and source 9 ft. of RR track.  of course, pics of that stuff will follow in due time...

I'm aiming for playtests in July and/or August, and actual convention games in October and November...

[CapnJim]

Well, I ran my "Rob the Mail Truck" scenario twice yesterday at Drums at the Rapids at Fort Meigs in Ohio.  Used Fistful of Lead for both.  I had a full game both games, and everyone indicated that enjoyed the scenario and the games.  I acted as GM/umpire both games.  For a refresher on the scenario, you may refer to page 5 of this thread.

Since previously, the Post Office/Marines have gone 4-0, using 2 different rule sets, I made a few tweaks to the scenario:

     A.  I made the Mail Truck driver indicate his intended exit point (to me) prior to the game beginning.  And I made him adhere to that.

     B.  In allowed the gangsters to set up hidden ambushes anywhere in the middle third of the board.   Combined with Point A above, this made placement of the ambush important.

     C.  I put a herd of cattle in the field hear the east end of the board, and a dog tied up to a front corner of the cabin near the southwest corner of the board.  As appropriate, the animals would activate on the civilians' card.

Unfortunately, the Marines are now 6-0....

Game 1

The gangsters opted against setting up an ambush.  They did it the old-fashioned way, buy having a car come on at each of their entry roads.  The stated exit point for the Mail truck was the southeast corner road.

The gangster car that came on at that road immediately blew a tire.  The gangster in that car (3 of them) got out, despite the fact that car could still drive, just at a slower pace.  A civilian car entered at the north road, ahead of the Mail truck, and proceeded to drive toward where the gangster car with the flat tire was.  This made the gangsters nervous, fearing that it was a carful or Marines.

Meanwhile, the other 3 gangsters in the other car came on at the southwest corner road, and stopped near the driveway to that cabin.  A gangster with a Tommy Gun got our, and entered that cabin's yard, getting the attention of both the farmer and his dog.  The dog barked a lot, and the farmer, while defiant at first, ultimately decided that discretion was the better part of valor and went back inside.  And down the road came the Mail truck toward that cabin.

Once the gangsters at the other road figured out the civilian car wasn't a threat, they left their car blocking the intersection, and headed down the road on foot toward the cabin with the dog barking.

The gangsters over there puller their car across the road to block the Mail truck, and the gang boss got out, walked over to the farmer's truck to try to pull it over to aid in the road block.  It wouldn't start though....

The Mail truck rammed the car blocking the road in front of the cabin, wrecking the car and killing the guy with the shotgun who had been the driver of the car (and was still in side it).  The Postal Inspector and the Gang Boss traded shots from the trucks, and the Postal Inspector slumped in his seat dead as a doornail.  The Marines un-assed the truck.  A general firefight ensued, with the Marines coming out on top.  One Marine was killed in the fight though, but all but one gangster went down - and the guys from down that road had made their way into the scrum.  The Marines got back in the truck.

The Mail truck driver gunned his engine and headed for his exit point.  The last gangster managed to jump up on the truck's driver-side running board just before the Mail truck careened through a fence to get around the gangster's car with the flat tire.  Luckily, that section of fence was all rotted away, and the truck managed to get through the fence.  And then stalled.  But the gangster fell off, likely knocked off by a piece of flying fence.  The Marines un-assed the truck again, and promptly filled the poor bastard full of .30-06 and .45 ACP...

And that was that.  Another failed Mail truck robbery attempt.  All 6 gangsters were down, but they took a Marine and the Postal Inspector with them.

Game 2

This game was a bit more interesting.  The gangsters damn near pulled it off.

They set up an ambush on the west road, just south of the intersection with the road that headed east.  They parked their car across the road, and a Tommy Gunner and the Gang Boss hid in the woods waiting for the Mail truck.  The other car, with the other four gangsters, was waiting down the road the headed east, just around the bend in the road near the cabin at the northeast corner.  They would head to the ambush site once they heard gunfire.

The Mail trucks stated exit point was the road at the southwest corner.  That just happened to play into the gangster's ambush plans.  And to top it all off, the Marines all had gastro-intestinal issues, likely caused by a funky breakfast...

It's too bad the gangsters sprung their ambush a little early.  The Mail truck blew a tire and stopped short of the intended kill zone, and the Marines and the Postal Inspector promptly un-assed the truck and set up 360-degree security.  This spooked the gangsters, who opened up too early.  The Mail truck driver likely panicked, and moved out to try to get away. But his truck stalled.  The driver got out to check on his flat tire and was gunned down for his troubles.

The Marines returned fire, including at the gangsters in the second car who had come speeding around the bend headed straight for them.  A confused firefight broke out.  Men dropped, including Marines.  Even the farmer's dog got in on the act.  He had slipped his lead, and went charging at the guys who had trespassed near his yard.  Too bad for a gangster with a Tommy Gun.  Just as that gangster dropped the Mail truck driver, the dog attacked the gangster, killing him after several minutes of frenzied hand-to-paw combat.

While that was going on, the Gang Boss had jumped up into the Mail truck, and was desperately (and unsuccessfully) trying to get it started when the Postal Inspector and Marine shot the snot out of him and dragged him back down out of the truck. 

When the gunfire died down some, the Mail truck driver, the Marine Gunny, and a Marine rifleman were dead.  But so were 5 of the gangsters.  The last gangster ran for it, stole a farmer's truck, and drove the hell away, all the while Marines were firing at him trying unsuccessfully to stop him.

And that fight too was over...

So, like I said, the Marines a 6-0.  The gangster got close on this one, though.  The gangsters played a Joker to caused the Mail truck to blow a tire, but they did it a turn too soon.  The blown tire caused the Marines to dismount and spread out, which caused the gangsters to react to the Marines, instead of vice versa.  And I personally thought they should've had both Tommy Gunners in for the actual ambush.  And the farmer's dog didn't help matters.  That dog had a 50-50 shot at attacking the gangster with the Tommy Gun or the Mail truck driver.  He chose the gangster...oh well.  But if the Gang Boss had gotten that Mail truck started up right away, he may well have driven off with it...

Boy, if my games even remotely resemble what actually happened, I can see why Mail truck and train robberies stopped completely after Marines began guarding the Mail in both 1921 and 1926.

If I run this scenario again, I will likely either reduce the Marines to 3 Rifleman from 4, or add a gangster or 2...but I still think this is winnable for the gangsters with a properly laid-in and executed ambush.

I've attached a few pics from each game, for your viewing pleasure...

And now, it's back to getting stuff ready for my planned Matewan Battle/Massacre scenario...