Colorado Military Historians (CMH) Vet Wars 2013 - Bolt Action Battle

Doug and Dave were able to put on a Bolt Action Battle the first evening of the Vet Wars event.  I didn't take as many pictures as I usually do because I actually got to PLAY in a game this time.  It is always a great time playing Bolt Action.  I played the wide open left American Flank against Herr Manley on the German side.  Jeff played the Americans against Aaron in the middle and Nate playing Americans on the far right against Rick.

Our mission was to take this small village in the middle out of German hands.  They had opportunities to hide squads before our assault.  What actually happened was that Herr Manley and his Sgt. Heinz (Squad Leader) launched a devastating attack from the German center which destroyed Jeff's MMG and assaulted and killed one of my blundering squads.

We never did take the Village but we all still had a good time.  The miniatures were all Dave Manley's which look great!  And Doug who ran the game laid out another one of his excellent terrain boards! Thanks Doug and Dave!

So here are few pictures for your enjoyment.  Dan

Colorado Military Historian (CMH) 2013 - WWI Square Bashing

Next year will be the 100th Anniversary of The Great War. Some of us at Vet Wars this year were able to put on some WWI actions. Terry Shockey took the opportunity to run the latest of Peter Pig's Square Bashing rules. I didn't get to play in this one because I was one table over in a Civil War battle but received great pictures and feedback regarding the battle. John Owen and Doug Wildfong handled the Americans with Dave and Jordan Newport taking the Germans. It sounded like it was a very good game. Thanks Terry for putting it on.

If you do not know about Square Bashing please go to the Peter Pig Website and take a look at all of their nice ranges of figures and rules. The figures used in this scenario are a split between Peter Pig and Minifigs.

Peter Pig Website

http://www.peterpig.co.uk/range16.htm

So let me get to the battle. This was an American Force protecting a command bunker and their trench line from the Germans. We got some nice pictures and some narration from the players - enjoy.

Dan

Colorado Military Historians (CMH) Vet Wars 2013 - Rorkes Drift

At Vet Wars some excellent games were being played.  One was Rorke's Drift put on by Dave and Jordan Newport using their homegrown rules.

Doug and John

Matt Vigil, in his 2nd Colonial played one of the Zulu Impi Commanders along with Jordan.  Doug Wildfong and John took the British.  Dave kept up the pace of the battle running the game.

The battle emulated the movie Zulu and from all accounts it was spot on.  Matt would comment, "It was the best battle and ruleset that Dave has put on yet."  As many of us at CMH know Dave usually steps out of the box and creates his own rules which anyone will tell you are always fun and innovative.  Dave's  rules are written to be printed on one piece of paper, keeping it simple, keeping it fun and keeping the flavor of the period.

I didn't get to play in this game but I heard it was intense to the very last turn.  I heard one Impi Commander say aloud, "Just one more wave and we could have taken it!"  Until the next time, we look forward to the next Zulu battle.

Thanks again Dave for putting this on.  So enjoy the pictures.

Compound from a Wiki image

Excellent looking kit

Dave's game exciting to the last turn!

The location today (Wiki).  The buildings are modern.

Colorado Military Historians (CMH) Vet Wars 2013 - Black Powder Sudan Battle

I know I have discussed this before and it has to do with my favorite era of wargaming, Colonials!  It all started when I was very young and my Parents were taking us to see a "Cartoon!" so we thought.  Well it was "Khartoum!"  Man it was boring at first.  If you have ever seen it you know that the beginning felt like one of those National Geographic episodes.  What the heck my brothers and I thought.  But then, but then, it started, Bakers disaster, the Mahdi, Gunboats on the Nile, and yes the siege of "Khartoum" not Cartoon.  I have been fascinated since that evening.  Of course my younger brothers and Mom fell asleep because it is a looong movie but not me!  I must have been 7 or 8 years old at the time.  Anyway, sorry for the rant but you can imagine the excitement I have whenever I put on a Colonial battle.

So this scenario is based on the El Teb scenario in the Black Powder rule book.  We had a blast.  It was Matt V's first time he played in a Colonial game and it didn't go well for him but he had fun.  And knowing Matt, the next time we play his tactics will definitely be different.  Its not easy for someone that plays Civil War, Nappy and Ancients to catch on to Colonial combat.  Like the question he asked me said it all, "Dan, do you form square against these Mahdist?"  As we all know, squares work great against Cavalry but Dervish?  If your not used to it you have a way of learning quickly in the desert!  You will see what happens to his Sudanese troops in this battle.  It was very entertaining (lol).

Well again, I captioned all the pictures.  I had a great time putting this on for our club event.  Oh we also had Jeff G. join us for this battle.  I was glad he could join us.  Emir's Jeff, John "Mumbasa" and Aaron took command of the Mahdist forces and Colonel's Matt and Nate the British and Egyptian forces.

The mission was to attack and clear the sangars (defensive positions) and capture the Khalifa,the defender of the faithful.  So as they say, it so happened that the hunter became the hunted.  Take a look.

Dan

Colorado Military Historian (CMH) Vet Wars 2013 - Black Powder Civil War Battle

Battle at Hangman's Creek

This years Vet Wars was as fun as always.  This year I decided to play one of my favorite rules Black Powder.  To make it easier I ran two battles using BP.  It worked out great.

This was the Civil War Battle we played with our CMH members, Andrew, Dave and Nate playing the Rebs, and Rick, Aaron and myself playing the sleeping Union forces.

This scenario was adapted right from the BP Rule book called Battle at Hangman's Creek.  It has the Union forces primarily off board with the Command staff just waking up in the small town at the center.  There is one Regiment that are pickets camped out on a ridge which overlooks the town. There is a Camp on the Union left with a Battery in position and an Armory with a Regiment on the far right preparing their Breakfast.

The battle starts with the Rebs coming on like a steam roller that hits the pickets in the early dawn hours which sounds the alarm to the command staff.  At the moment of alarm the Colonels are scrambling to get their forces on the board before getting ran over by this large Rebel Raid.  Fortunately, the Rebs initially stalled initially (command failures) while getting their forces coordinated.

Great battle where everyone had a good time.  I will let the pictures tell the story of this particular engagement.