More From Historicon 2024

 In addition to Jim P's amazing 54mm Gettysburg wargame, there were several other 54mm games presented. Technically, mine were 1/48th scale, but for The Road To Ambleve, (my take on the 1965 "The Battle of the Bulge" movie) I used 54mm MPC US Infantry. 

A nice AWI game in 54mm

An amazing, if somewhat hard to see, 54mm WW1 trench game between French and Germans

There were several other 54mm games, one of which I had signed up to play, but just did not have the mental bandwidth to participate in on Saturday. My apologies to the GM. I just couldn't do it. 

All four of my games were filled up. I ran two iterations of The Road To Ambleve on Friday. The 3pm session was one of the most fun games I've ever had the pleasure to run. It was great and the players were fantastic. 

Scott S. eagerly awaiting the arrival of the other players...

The 7pm game was very much less so, and, sad to say, that was mostly due to me. Normally, by 7pm, I'm winding down my day and getting ready to sleep by reading or something like that. I should have stuck to my normal process and run games in the morning and afternoon. 

My second game was The Battle of El Guettar form the 1970 movie "Patton"

Again, the 3pm game was great, the 7pm game, far less so. And since I am the common denominator, well, I learned my lesson. Run in the day, play at night. 

Other wonderful games that I saw:

Tom Ballou ran his Moby Dick game from HUZZAH!

Thomas S. came down from Port Dover, ON to run this nice little game of Op WELLHIT with Chain of Command from the Too Fat Lardies.

Tom U. from the WAMP club ran his insanely beautiful Arnhem game in 28mm

Romans in Funny Hats and 2mm figures was going on behind me. 

A very nice Sharp Practice game, Second Trenton (Assinpink Creek) from the AWI

And, of course, it would not be Historicon if I did not buy some things to keep me occupied until next Historicon... 

I horrified my fellow members of the VWC by mentioning that this is the first time I ever actually owned a copy of either The War Game or Charge!, but I managed to get both for ten bucks each. Both hardbacks and first editions. 

This was more for Professional Development purposes. I'll have a go at these and then take them up to my next drill weekend and see who I can interest in playing. The Baltic version should be ready by this time next year. 

Of course, I can't get away and not buy some lead. Strictly speaking, I asked Rich M from Dayton Painting Consortium to make up this box for me before Historicon and I'd pay for it there. He was kind enough to do so. More 18th Century Spanish for my War of Austrian Succession project. More of that anon. 

All in all, it was a great show. I got to meet some folks I've never met before, like Richard Clarke from the TFL. I saw quite a few friends I just don't ever get to see, nor spend much time with. Played in one of the best games I have ever seen in the hobby. Bought some things to finish off a collection. 

Now, onto the next adventure...

I Have Been To....Historicon 2024

 

"Wait for the Wagon" Regimental March of the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps...

I have been remiss, no, actually I've just been bloody lazy, when it comes to reporting on my time at Historicon this year. It was the usual mix of feelings and emotions for me. Mostly good, some negative, but certainly better than no wargaming at all. 

Work meant I was under the gun to prepare for the four games I ran. I managed, though, even if I did detail my last terrain pieces the morning of their game... I ran four games, played in one, failed to make a second game (my apologies to the GM), bought some things and talked to a lot of friends I only see a couple of times a year. 

The game I did play in was run by Jim P. and assisted by my friend Bill M. It was a re-fight of Pickett's Charge from Gettysburg and consisted of around 1200 (yes, that is indeed twelve hundred) 54mm figures spread over three six foot wide by twenty-four feet long tables. 

Jim carted all of this from his home in Illinois over a two day drive, just for this convention. He made up a set of rules, built the terrain, including several scratch-built buildings, and tested his more than once with friends in the Midwest before bringing this amazing game to Lancaster. 

The Bliss Farm that Jim modelled in memory of a friend of Bill's and mine, Elwood "Woody" Christ

The dastardly Confederates have gained the Emmittsburg Pike. 

The brave Union boys in blue awaiting the Johnnies. I commanded Stannard's Vermont Brigade on the lower right-hand corner of the picture. 

The game was simple enough, the Confederates attack and try to take the Union position, the Federals must try to stop the Confederates. Regiments were five stands of six figures...all in 54mm! Batteries were two or three gun models with four crew each. Six sided dice were used. Movement rates were big, naturally. 

My opponents, Nate and his son. A very nice father-son team. First class, all the way. 

Wargame Rule #27: Never play against anyone under 12, because you will lose...

Stannard's boys standing firm, like the Green Mountains. 

Jim was generous enough to paint up a couple of units for me to represent the 13th and 14th Vermont Regiments. The 1st USSS replaced the 16th VT for the game. I was very thankful to Jim for being kind enough to do this, it meant a lot to me. 

The Maestro himself, before Thursday's game. 

And there's Bill M. getting ready to broadcast via his YouTube Channel, Bill's Wargame World...

To be fair, the game was huge bags of fun. We played 12 turns in four hours, including the briefing and we had at least 14-16 players. It wound up being a Confederate victory, but it was a nail biter all the way. The Union and Confederates went back and forth in the middle and even on the far end of the table. But my end held firm, until the very end. 

"There stand the Vermonters! Standing like a Maple Wall! Rally on them!"

"Maple Wall" Stannard? Hmmm....

One thing that was truly nice to see, was HMGS awarding Jim a PELA award for his game. PELAs are given to those GMs who go above and beyond to create fun and exciting games. And this was truly well earned. 

All in all, it was one of the most fun games I've ever played in and certainly ticked off almost every box in my mind. I would play in this again (no, Jim, I'm NOT asking you to run it again...). 

As far as the rest of the convention, more anon. 

Weekend Update

 The ridiculously hot and humid weather here in SE PA has made life miserable, especially since my civvy job is normally at -20 degrees F. Anything that involves me being outside for any length time literally sucks the energy out of me. 

Fortunately, I have chores inside for most of the day and an early completion of most of them (running low on coffee, so that's one trip that MUST be done) means I can take stock of this past week. 

Work has been quite busy, but I've managed to get in one game last weekend with the crew up in NE PA and get some work done on hills for my El Guettar game at Historicon. 

First up, on the 29th of June I was able to get to Kingston, PA and run my most recent test drive of El Guettar to fine tune some things for Historicon. 

John the OFM (left) and Roger B. (right)

Mike S. was our host (who provided very tasty and very LARGE sandwiches for our mid-game break) and we had John the OFM, Roger, Jim K. and Mike play the dastardly Germans of the 10th Panzer Division. For the Yankee Doodle Dandies, it was Darrell, JIM B., and Mark C defending the avenue of approach to the oasis and village at El Guettar. 

The objective of the Germans was to get off the road on the other side of the board. The Americans had to stop them. I gave each side four tanks. If you look closely, the tanks are highly accurate reproductions as per the movie "Patton", upon which this game is based. 

We used What A Tanker for the rules, but I opted not to use the infantry (with the rules mods) for this game to keep things simpler for the players. Which in the end was a Good Idea. 

Turn 2 and Mark went BOOM! 

As it went, the German struggled to hit anything after Mark's first tank went up in flames. And the Americans struggled to move. Darrell, in fact, rolled double ones on his first turn when trying to move, causing his to stall out and lose the rest of his turn. And he continued to roll about that same level for the rest of the game. 

The Immobile Farce...looking very...statuesque.

Jim the Paint Scratcher, make American Motor Sergeants mad with all the dings and dents

The game went 12 turns over three hours, not including a half-time break for supper. Eventually, the Germans were able to maneuver their tanks around the immobile Americans, who could shoot, but just couldn't get any Move dice. Ultimately the Germans managed to get two tanks off the board, with one damaged and one destroyed. The Yanks had one tank in flames, one badly damaged, one whose crew bailed out and were cowering somewhere waiting to be slapped by Georgie Boy Patton, and Darrell's lumbering tank that maybe moved 12 inches all night. 

Overall, things went well for what I needed to see in the game. I have a couple of more adjustments to make, but it's ready for Prime Time. 

And of course, it wouldn't be a PAWM club game without...

The flaming wreck of the tank commanded by Herr Oberst Johann von OFM (not shot in the back by his own side, but from the front by Darrell in his lumbering tank)

Nine Months to Gettysburg

Today is the 4th of July. Independence Day here in Doodle Land. 

It's also the day after the end of the Battle of Gettysburg, one of the most written of battles of the American Civil War and, to my mind, one of the most interesting. If for no other reason than I live in Pennsylvania, and I've visited the place probably a couple of hundred times.

As a member of the Vermont Army National Guard, I have a particularly soft spot for the two brigades of troops from Vermont who fought at Gettysburg. 

The second of the two brigades that came from Vermont, under the command of George Stannard, was composed of men who enlisted for only nine months service. 

General George Stannard

The brigade consisted of the 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th Vermont Regiments and they had spent the majority of their time guarding places and things, instead of campaigning with the Army of the Potomac. 

The movement of the Army of Northern Virginia into Pennsylvania changed that, and the brigade was attached to the I Corps instead. 

Detaching the 12th and the 15th Regiments at Westminster, Maryland, the rest of the brigade arrived late on the 1st of July. The brigade engaged in a small action on the 2nd of July at the Codori farm which resulted in the capture of approximately 80 soldiers from an Alabama unit and a cannon. 

The Codori farm in the distance. The barn is post-war in colour and size.

Witnessing the attack, one grizzled veteran asked the newcomers who they were. The answer was "We're the Green Mountain Boys!". The veteran shot back "I figured you were green. Only green troops would act so foolishly". 

On the 3rd of July, the men of the 16th Regiment were deployed as skirmishers across the front of one part of Cemetery Ridge. The other two were in reserve, resting. 

As the attack that would become known as "Pickett's Charge" unfolded, the 16th Regiment was pulled back and the three Vermont regiments formed up in line of battle. As the Confederates advanced, Stannard used the terrain to his advantage to gain the left flank of troops that were supporting the three brigades of Pickett's Division and catch them in the flank with withering volleys. He then wheeled those regiments to the left and fired into more supporting Confederate infantry, blasting the attack apart with a withering fire. 

The II Corps commander, Winfield Scott Hancock, was with Stannard and his staff when he was hit and seriously wounded.

The area where Hancock was wounded

Because of the actions of Stannard and his men, the Confederates were forced to divert forces to face the threat from the Vermonters, thus taking away combat power from the attack on what would be known as the High-Water Mark. 

After the battle, the brigade, less the 12th Regiment, took part in the pursuit of the Confederates, but were soon re-directed back to Vermont. Some took part in suppressing the New York City Draft Riots. 

The regiments of the brigade were all discharged by August. George Stannard himself continued to serve the rest of the war, being wounded a number of times and losing his right arm in the process. 

The monument to the brigade at Gettysburg has a statue of General Stannard standing atop.