Gettysburg -July 1st 2018 (155th Anniversary)

As planned my father and two sons Justin and Jared along with a friend Austyn refought the first day of the battle of Gettysburg on the actual 155th anniversary of the battle.

We used my 10mm armies on the custom map made by Cigar Box augmented with hills and trees which made for a great battle and epic diorama as the battle progressed.

The Union commanded by Justin and dad and later joined by Austyn fought to stave off the Confederate juggernaut commanded by Jared and I.  We used the 2nd edition Brigade Fire and Fury rules along with the scenario from the book.

 

Army of the Potomac

Army of Northern Virginia

 

 

The Battlefield viewed from the West

Archer's Brigade on the move



Iron Brigade in a precarious position after charging through Herbst woods

Union Artillery posted near the Lutheran Seminary

Fight for McPherson's Ridge

Cutler's Brigade stands fast

Gamble's cavalry Brigade defending the flank

Iron Brigade moves to support Cutler after sweeping the woods

Charge the cavalry

Counterbattery fire

Union reinforcements rush to the sound of the guns

Cavalry check a charge a temporarily hold

Support comes up and Pender drives off Bufford

Doubleday in retreat hotly pursued by fresh Rebels

Iron Brigade caught in the open

Meredith skillfully maneuvers his brigade to form a line  

Union 1st Corps hotly engaged by two divisions

Union attempts to hold the valley

Confederates quickly swarm in to attack

Battered survivors of Wadsworth's division hold on

Howard's XI Corps clings to the stone wall

Rhodes is now on the field pushing the XI Corps

Confederates quickly move past the Union defenders on the left

AP Hill presses on toward the objective Seminary ridge

Howard hold tough  stalling Ewells' advance

Hill will not be stopped despite heavy losses the Rebels drive on

All but one Union Battery is silenced and the Confederates push forward

Last of the 1st Corps survivors take up position  

Howard's Artillery pours it on to hold of Rhodes

XI Corps finally starts to fall back

Union 1st Corps and Cavalry  is wrecked and XI Corps casualties are mounting 

Hill's command just hit heavy casualties Ewell is still in good shape

In the scenario it was 2PM (Turn 9) and all the Union reinforcements were on the field.  The Confederates still had most of Early's division still due to arrive.  Despite finally pushing Hill into heavy casualties (most of Heth's division) Justin and Austyn realized the situation was desperate and most likely beyond winning.

Overall the scenario played out fairly historically with a few tactical differences.  The Union generals knew up front the were outnumbered and needed to fight a strategic withdraw. 

Best laid plans rarely survive first contact though.  In the heat of the moment they could not resist the temptation to go on the offensive early which resulted in leaving three Union brigades exposed as the bulk of Pender's division arrived on the field looking for a fight. 

All in all a great day of gaming and excellent way to remember the sacrifices made by both blue and gray 155 years ago that set the stage for the culmination of the battle of Gettysburg July 2nd and 3rd 1863.

Always look forward to getting this scenario on the table again.

Hope you enjoyed

Gettysburg 155th Anniversary

With the Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg approaching I have decided (with Household Six's Permission of course) that it would be a great opportunity to host an event on July 1st.   Plan is to play the Brigade Fire and Fury First Day scenario to completion

Fight for McPherson's ridge

.More details to come, but you can expect to see a recap of the action played out on July 1st 2018.
 This works well as my Daughter's graduation party is the day prior so the space will be clean and there should be plenty of food and beverage still available.

Federals fall back toward the Seminary

In our previous engagements we have not made it past turn 9-10.  The intent this time will be to play it to conclusion through the course of the day

Confederate breakthrough near the Lutheran Seminary

Command positions will be limited and I will be sending out invites, but spectators will also be encouraged to come check out the action and cheer on the boys in blue and gray.

2nd Edition Rules

More to come......

Star Wars Legion-The beginning

A new year, a new game. Despite initially swearing off the idea of getting into Legion after my experience with Xwing I changed my mind after seeing it in person at Adepticon,  So far I am very impressed, but I also felt the same about Xwing.

Adepticon Hoth Demo

My experience thus far has been painting minis, an introductory game and my first 800pt game.  The minis are exceptional.  If you are new to painting minis or fantasy/SCI-FI minis in my case, there are a ton of quality tutorials on the web.

Darth Vader

I initially started with a single core set and painted all the infantry in the first week.  I added a Rebel and Stormtroopers expansion so I would have 3 trooper squads per side to meet the requirements of the rules.  After figuring out what would be required for 800 points I realized that a 2nd core set is the most economical way to go and added a AT-ST.  Imperials will be my initial focus and the AT-ST is just so cool.

AT-ST

I had a long weekend and was able to finish the balance of my Imperial forces so they are now ready to crush the rebellion and restore order to the Empire.

Alternate Paint Scheme Stormtroopers

I have not played enough yet to offer any critique on the rules.  The mechanics do look promising and in typical Fantasy Flight Games style unique dice are required.  I very much enjoyed my first outing and am looking forward to the next.  I am fortunate that at least two local stores are planning  weekly events.  There are several nuances to the rules, which will take a couple reads and a few more games  to master before I will offer up any meaningful opinions.

Beautiful Terrain provided by Kyle

First Game at LGS

If you are on the fence, I definitely think it is worth a try.  In my opinion the most economical way to jump in is 2 core sets which retail for $90, but can be found for $70-80 online.  You will then probably want to add one of the large vehicle expansions which will give you plenty for a standard 800pt build with some options to try different things.  If you have a friend and are only interested in one side splitting the two cores would be the ideal way to go.

Speeder Bike

Traditional Stormtroopers 

I did get the trooper expansions.  These are the exact same models as in the core, but offer two upgrade cards that are not in the core (grappling hooks and grenades) the good news is both the Rebels and Imperials come with the same upgrades.

Imperials ready for battle

This brings me to my final thought and major concern for this game, upgrade cards.  As mentioned I initially enjoyed X-wing and had I not been introduced to competitive play I would probably still be playing today.  Ultimately the reason I left X-wing was the aggressive release schedule (I like to collect everything) and the upgrade cards that introduced power creep and made early models next to useless if you did not stay current on the new cards and current meta to understand all the synergies.

Legion Storage

I bought everything up through wave four to include the Tantive and transport.  The problem was I did not study the cards and keep up with the meta due to how fast the released and my interest in other historical gaming.  As a result while I did very well at my first tournament, that was not the case at my second when I was was schooled by very good players who were devoted to X-wing and the synergies.  Newer upgrade cards had basically made my older list which had been competitive null and void.

Snowtroopers future release

 I tell this story because I truly hope FFG doe not go this way with Legion.  I hope the game is about the minis and strategy and does not become about the latest expansion with a new upgrade that makes older releases useless.

I will say I was encouraged that the two trooper expansions had the same upgrade cards that can be used by either side. Both cards seem nice to have, but not absolutely required if you just have the core.

Upgrades included with troopers

I will also say the expansions on the horizon do seem nice.  Getting to see Snow troopers at Adepticon truly sold me as they were one of my favorites as a kid watching the original trilogy in theaters.

I guess we will see what the future hold, but so far Legion looks promising,