15MM Cornfield - for Ray!

Hey Ray! I mentioned on one of your comments on my 28MM corn that I would post a pic of what I use for 15MM corn. So...here is that pic. Do you think it would work for you? Side note: be safe - and eat well (I loooove Thai food!) - in Thailand, your friends here in Denver say hello! Get home for a visit and some gaming!

10MM Rebels

I am going to paint some Confederate units for playing Zouave with the gang (Bob is doing some Yankees). We hops we can play at the end of summer. Anyway, here is one stand of 10MM rebs. the figures are Old Glory 10MM. Yes, I suck at model soldier photography.

Aderklaa Scenario

Well, I completed the first draft of my Aderklaa scenario for Napoleonics using Black Powder. It can be downloaded and viewed here: Aderklaa Scenario

Feedback is welcomed and desired. We recently played a 9 turn scenario in about 90 minutes at a club meeting, this may be playable at a full club meeting. Things do get to moving rather fast when you get it going...

Does this look OK?

How does this look to you? My plan is to build some "town" sections for 15MM Napoleonics for use with Black Powder. My idea is to build sections that can hold 1 unit (for example this section can hold a "normal" sized unit). Sections of differing sizes can be used to represent smaller villages or strongpoints. Sections can be combined to create larger towns.

As you can see, I scaled and printed the art of various free paper buildings from the web, and constructed a "wall" around the base of the town section. In this manner, i can insert an occupying unit without having to remove model buildings. The upside is that it is cheap and easy to do and is very playable and still maintains a certain "look". Here is the town with troops!

Let me know what you think.

Hmmm. DBN or Black Powder?

OK, I have a bit of a quandary. I like the rule set "Black Powder" - it is good fun, a good club game. It is my set of choice currently for 28MM American Civil War. I also have began a collection of 10MM American Civil War for Repique. It is Napoleonics where my issue is.

I like DBN (see earlier post). I like it because you can lay out some troops and bang into a game straight away. This is also possible with Black Powder...but Black Powder is playing more fun to me. I think I am going to play Black Powder over DBN, simply on the notion of the special flavor you can give to units and leaders and the depth of that flavor.

We'll see how things go. I am working on an 1809 Black Powder scenario about the battle for Aderklaa during the Battle of Wagram. More on that later...

Repique: Zouave

I received my autographed copy of Bob Jone's new rule system Repique: Zouave today at lunch. Way to go Bob! I encourage all readers to go to Bob's Blog and check out his materials and even to order the rules! In addition, there is a Yahoo Group established for the rules.

I am a big fan of the command and control system in Repique! It encompasses both strategic and tactical elements. As my readers should know by now, I like rules that don't allow me to have 100% control of the actions of my miniature men...and Repique certainly does this. However, Repique does this is a manner that lowers odd random occurrences. Leaders typically function within a range of their capacity. Also, it forces me - as the real C-in-C to plan ahead. That range of leadership dovetails into my plans (or lack thereof). In some rule sets, I can change my plan from turn to turn depending upon how well I make command rolls of the dice.

What this means to me as a wargamer is that I can play two types of games, both very fun. One type of game is more of a "club game" where everything is pretty easy, we roll dice, and my troops move according to my luck with the dice...with all formations having the same odds of movement. We all have great fun, and establish friendships and camaraderie. The other type of game is more of a "challenging game" where everything is pretty easy, we roll dice, and my troops move in accordance with my planning, the ratings of the leaders and within more historical deployments and movements. We all have great fun, and establish friendships and camaraderie. To me Repique fits the bill for a large battle when I desire a more challenging experience.

DBN - 1809 French

De Bellis Napoleonics, DBN, is a terrific game. It is produced by KISR Productions and available from their site at DBN Wargaming. It is a stand alone game, developed from De Bellis Antiquitatis, that allows for us to quickly fight Napoleonic battles.


I hear ya, you purists out there, wargaming sacrilege. But the simple truth is that this is a good and fun game that allows me to actually play with my Napoleonic miniatures! An extra strength of the game is the excellent "large battle DBN" aspect. DBA/DBN have some simple yet elegant mechanisms - some of which have not been matched by other rule sets - for command and control. DBN takes it a little further with some fine optional rules allowing for better (or worse) generals.

I can still play Black Powder with the miniatures owing to the forgiving figure-basing notions in that also excellent game.

Pictured below is a representative French army for the 1809 campaign in Austria. The various elements are described in the image, but what is nice is that only 8 of the elements are compulsory, allowing a player to then complete the army to suit his likes.

One neat aspect of the better trained light infantry in the game is that they can be deployed as light infantry or as muskets, even changing the deployment during the game. This is really good tactically as both types have some differing advantages. The French in 1809 also have some options for "elite" troops too.

This is only a fraction of the French (and allies - Bavarian, Italian, Saxon) that reside in the combined collection of my brother and I (which, luckily for me, lives at my house!). We have a ton of Austrians too.

15mm DBA Armies

Below are two pics of 15MM DBA armies that I will be selling at our club meeting in two weeks. One is a Gallic army and other is Anglo-Dane.

Vietnam 15s

I painted the below so that my brother can see them and we can adjust the "green" to his liking before we ship hundreds of them to Sri Lanka. So, Ben, here they are...

Is it me, or does zooming into a 15MM mini often show more detail than would normally meet the eye?

French Foreign Legion

Below are pictures of my French Foreign Legion miniatures. They are suitable for early WW1 or late 19th century periods. I collected them for some WW1 games, but now that is over and I have no further need for them. So, our club has an annual swap meet & sale at its May meeting, and these guys are now up for sale (25MM Old Glory Miniatures).

The group contains 30 infantry and 4 infantry command as well as 1 mounted officer. There are 2 machine guns and 10 crewmen for those guns. IN addition, there is a 75MM field gun and 4 crew for that gun and an emplacement I built. I also have 32 unpainted "Arab" enemies for the men that I am tossing into the sale for free...oh, and there are 2 more unpainted machine guns with crew.