3D Resin Printing: USS Minnesota

 

Some more experimentation with 3D printing - in this case a 1/600 scale model of the USS Minnesota from the ACW.

I purchased the stl files from a designer on the Wargaming 3D marketplace called East Coast Ironclads.  He has a large range of ACW ships to choose from and of the two I've purchased I have been very impressed.

The spars on the masts can be a bit delicate so I plan on reinforcing them with some green stuff sculpted to look like furled sails.  Off course if they break due to gameplay one can always just print off a new one!

I've got some pretty large gaps in my ACW ironclad collection and these models are a great way to fill them without spending a ton of money.

 Last Monday at the club, Josh put on a fantastic ACW game using fire and fury regimental and his 15mm ACW collection.  We refought the battle of Honey Hill in 1864 from Shermans march to the sea.  Tony and I were the Confederates and Greg, Ed and Keith the Union.

The Union forces outnumber the confederates by close to 3:1 but the Rebs have fortified positions

The Union's left flank emerges from the woods - its a very large attack

The left flanks attack charges home - most of the Union troops are Veterans vs Trained for the confederates

The confederate breastworks are eventually overwhelmed

I tried shifting some regiments to meet the Union attack but did so too late, dooming Tony and I to defeat.  Just after this picture was taken, the CSA force reached it's break point and the game was called.  It was a lot of fun to play regimental F&F again.

A view from the Union side.

I was able to get to the club a bit earlier and was also able to play a quick game of Churchill from GMT games.  Its a very fun and interesting card driven game of conferences between the allies to during the course of WW2.  I found it fascinating and want to play again.

Some last minute painting for Cold Wars next week.  I had forgotten that I borrowed some Union troops the last time I ran "Sink the Tennessee" at a convention so am filling out the ranks now.  I'm very lucky that (i) the Perry Brothers have very fast mail order delivery and (ii) I didn't discover this shortfall while packing up the day before the con.

That last point has happened for other games.

Sail & Steam Navies: Battle of Mobile Bay

Last Monday I put on an ironclads game at the club using Sail and Steam Navies and 1/600 scale ironclads.  I thought the game went really well and I had three players, all of whom were new to S&SN as a ruleset.

The scenario was the Battle of Mobil Bay but with reduced fleets as I just don't have enough Union Screw Sloops and Frigates to flesh out all of Farragut's 18 Ship Union Fleet.   The Union Attacked with 10 ships .

It was a very bloody affair with the Union loosing four ships and having four others very badly damaged.  The Confederates eventually lost the Tennessee but Fort Morgan was still holding on.

I need to tone down my riles form Torpedos as I think they were way too powerful.

All in all, it was a grand game and I look forward to doing more.  The game has also provided me a reason to go ahead and purchase the models to do the entire Union fleet.  Its for the club, not me....

Battle of Chattanooga: Alter of Freedom ACW

Last Monday the club got together and put on a really fun ACW game, using the Alter of Freedom ruleset which happened to be written by the game host, Greg.  These are "Grand Tactical" which emphasize command control issues.  It was my first time playing them and I was very impressed.

The game depicted the Battle of Chattanooga in 1864 which has a besieged Union Army under Grant trying to Break out.  The Confederate force is commanded by Braxton Bragg, who had a checkered reputation...

The first picture show the the start of the campaign with the Union to the right and the Confederates to the left.  My command, Sherman's Corps, is in the lower right.

Alter of Freedom uses a very intuitive command point system where you bid a set number of command points to get a division to move.  Want to make sure the division moves - bid a larger number but that means some divisions will not activate.  The turn clock moves down and if you bid a low number you make not get to move.  It took us a few turns to get the hang of the concept but it really does reflect command friction in a great way that is not entirely dice driven.

After a couple of turns my troops finally made it across the river and began our assault.

Josh's Union center got off their attack before mine could get organized and you can see them moving up on the Rebels.  On our far right flank was a furious fight for lookout mountain which saw a determined counterattack by the rebels that caught us a bit off-guard.

Command is represented by the army commander (Grant in our case) and corps leaders -  In this game Grant had 7 points which he can allocate to any other corps.  My General, Sherman didn't have a fixed number as, historically, in this battle he was off his game).  I had to roll a D6 and that was how many command points I got.  lets just say that Grant gave me a lot of points during the game.  In order to ensure a division moves you need to allocate at least 5 or 6 points so you can see how constraining it is.  I elected to leave my smaller, two brigade, division behind and just attack with the other two.

Commanders also get personal traits which can be +'s or -'s.  In my case Sherman got 2: "inept" and "hesitant", which we're not all that positive.  Even with a "challenging" commander profile, I found that game really fun.  To be honest, I think it made the game even more fun.

My left most attacking division goes in, supported by the armies lone cavalry brigade.

A shot of the battlefield towards the end of the game

My attack pushed the rebels off the ridge but my 2 divisions where pretty beat up.  The game ended after the 9th turn and was declared a very narrow Union victory.

Greg has down a much better write up of the game over on the club's blog.

I highly recommend the Alter of Freedom rules - check them out and consider a purchase, I think you'll like them a lot.

Challenge Update: Union Infantry Regiment and

 I'm a bit behind in posting my painting output for this year's challenge so will try to catch up over the next few days.  First up is a 24 figure Union Infantry regiment
.

 These are 28mm in scale and are from the "new" Perry plastic Union Infantry box.  "New" is qualified as the box is half new - the figures that are marching with shouldered arms are the same as found in the Perry plastic Confederate Infantry set.  The skirmishing figures are new and come in the form of a smallish four figure sprue.  The command sprue is also the same as in the Confederate box.  The figures are great but to be honest I was a little disappointed in the in the lack of new sculpts.

 I think this is my 19th Union Infantry regiment of 24 figures - should I stop at 20?  Nahhh.

 During the same weekend I paint up some 28mm scale vehicles - a British Scorpian and Technical pickup truck from Empress Miniatures and a Rubicon German Half track

Next up - Pirates!!!!!

Play Testing Fire & Fury Brigade: The First Day at Gettysburg

 Yesterday I got invited over to Rich's house for a play test of his revised Fire and Fury: Brigade rules, which is coming out in a new version (hopefully by year end).  With the base unit being a Brigade, one can play rather large battles and that's what we did - the entire first day of Gettysburg in 15 mm scale.

 Of course, Rich's tables are really things of beauty - the second picture show missionary ridge across the the top and the town of Gettysburg at the bottom.

Check out the rules at Rich's website: Fire and Fury.

 I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves.  I commanded a division form the Union 11th corps and lets just say my generalship was "off" - I got my butt kicked but had a blast.  I also got to meet another local gamer which is always a plus.

 The Brigade level rules are similar but not the same as the regimental but I really liked them.  It was really fascinating to see a"whole Battlefield" play out in front of you.

 My defenses crumble against the onslaught of Early's division.

 Hmmm, I wonder where the confederate attack will focus on?

Mariners Museum

Last week, the family and I went on vacation to Williamsburg, VA.  I'm a sucker for colonial Williamsburg and we had a great time.  I also had a chance to visit the US Mariners Museum in nearby Newport News, VA and I have to say I was blown away.  The center piece of the museum is the USS Montior's turret and an exhibit on the Monitor vs Virginia (aka Merrimac) encounter at Hampton Roads.  Currently there is also a great Nelson exhibit, a history of the US Navy, some wonderful exhibits on boat building through the ages and one of the finest collections of model ships I've ever seen.  To be honest this was the highlight of my trip and I'm already planning a return.

The entrance of the Monitor / Virginia exhibit is one of the Virginia's guns that was disabled during her encounter with the Union fleet the day before the fight with the Monitor.  The USS Cumberland was rammed by the Virginia and despite sinking kept firing her guns and managed to shoot the muzzle of one of the Virginia's guns.

 In the museum there is a full scale replica of the bow of the Virginia being readied for it's up coming fight with the monitor - the display shows the replacing of the gun damaged by the Cumberland.

 The interior of the Virginia - it's a lot more cramped than I would have thought.  I can't imagine what it would have been like to be inside these iron ovens while the guns are firing.

 A cross-section of the Virginnia's armor - 10 inches of pine 8 inches of oak and 2 of steel.

 The gem of the museum is it's monitor exhibits. In addition to then actual turret, there are several reproductions that show the turret as they found her when it was raised...

and a fully restored turret cross section - even tinier than the Virginia's interior.

 I was fascinated by the turning mechanism for the turret and probably spent 40 minutes trying to figure out it's detailed workings.

 The actual turret, guns and steam engine of the monitor are not on display and are being preserved in vats of chemically treated water that preserves the metal.  Here's one of the Monitor's guns.

 The day I visited the turret tank had been drained to allow some academic research - again I spent 30-40 minutes gazing at the turrets and guns in their preservation tanks.

 There is a very neat exhibit on the interior of the Monitor which wasn't as cramped as the turret leads you to believe.  The crew accommodations are not spacious but bigger than I thought.  First up is the Captain's cabin

 and then the XO's

 Some 1/1200 scale miniatures of various Union ironclads from Langton Miniatures

An amazing diorama of a US colonial ship yard in what I think is HO scale (1/87th)

 This may be the upcoming theme for my 2016 Hisotricon games......

 The ship models are fantastic and I took pictures of maybe 60 of them - here is a US Whaling vessel.

the CSS Alabama - a ship that factored heavily in my imagination as a kid growing up along the Alabama Gulf Coast.

I really can't recommend the Mariner's Museum more highly - if you're in the area it's a definite must see.