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.

New Gaming Shops in Aurora/Denver

Shep's Games (Old Attactix location)

I just wanted to pass on the news that there is a new gaming store in Aurora.  In fact, it is in the old Attactix location and its called Shep's Games.

Shep's Games from Window.  Tables are to the left.

It is owned and operated by Chris Shepard and information can be found below.  They have been there since September but only recently put up their new sign.  The 7-11 that was next store is gone and the old Taco Bell behind this building is now a very nice Coffee Shop.

It was very clean and organized.

Currently, Chris is just getting things started and is planning to build up his inventory.  He has plenty of table space to play the card and board games they are focused on for now.  He has plans to bring in more hobby supplies like paints, brushes, etc. and wants to later bring in miniatures as his business grows.

Denver Central Games
(Across from Kennedy Golf Course)

I also had a chance to visit Denver Central Games which sits across from the Kennedy Golf Course.  They also have plenty of table space and will keep their inventory on the big sellers right now until things pick up.  They do have some paints and a very nice looking store.  They even have food items there for the people gaming at the tables.  A very nice and spacious setup.

DCG Table setup

You can see there is plenty of gaming space.  It is well lit and very well maintained.

DCG Register and gaming stuff on the left. 

What I am seeing in common with all of them is that they are all gamers and very cool people.  I think it takes some guts and determination to open up and/or maintain a good "specialty" store in this slow economy.

DCG Food! Yeah!  Always a plus.

For myself I wish them all the best and will surely use them since they are all very close to our games in the South East corner of the metro area.

Chris at Collector Mania

It is very nice to see local game stores opening up and doing well.  Like Collectors Mania in Parker ran by Chris and Eric who hosted our DBA Throwdown last year.  I have been using them to order varnish, 40K stuff and they are more than willing to order just about anything you need.  Chris and Eric know their stuff and are always very helpful.

Collector Mania - Well Stocked as always

Some of you may ask if they are a card or board game store what can they do for us Historical Gamers?  Easy, and plenty, they have suppliers that can probably get you anything you need.  Figures, rules, paints, etc.  It doesn't hurt to call them and ask!

Just another tourney and site of our annual
DBA Throwdown with CSGA

I would like to plan on setting up some demonstration games this Fall/Winter at all these stores to bring in more interest to our hobby.  You never know when that 40K or Magic Gamer might get interested when he sees our 28mm or 15mm armies marching into battle at the next table!  We can only hope....

Dan


Shep's Games
Chris Shepard
15107 E. Hampden Ave.
Aurora, Colorado
303.690.0566
Email: shepsgamesco@gmail.com
www.shepsgames.com

Denver Central Games
10101 East Hampden Ave.
Unit 102/102
Denver, Colorado
720.514.9911
Email: denvercentralgames@gmail.com
denvercentralgames.com

Collectors Mania
19555 East Parker Square Drive
Suite 101
Parker, Co
303.766.3530
Email: collectormaniaparker@gmail.com
www.collectormaniaparker.com

Bolt Action at Recruits 2013

This was the Field House where the convention was held at Lee's Summit High School

If you read the previous post you would have seen that Jim Finneran and myself both ran Bolt Action events at Recruits.  It worked out great where we could help each other out.  We were both bouncing off rules questions, game situations, etc. between us.  This really helped me out.  I also got great tips on how to build a better board next time thanks to suggestions and ideas from Jim.  Can't thank him enough.

Anyway, Jim ran Bolt Actions sessions 1, 2, 3 and 4.  I ran Bolt Action in sessions 1, 2, 6 and 7.  Jim had this great idea to have a log in sheet which I will incorporate into my next demonstration games.  Just by the pictures below you can see that we both had a great turnout.

I ran an Italian scenario pitting squads of American GIs against smaller Veteran Squads of Germans.  The first scenarios we only used infantry units.  Then added a vehicle on each side later.  The rules are very easy to learn and everyone was pretty much moving on with minimal questions.

We covered all of the basic functions of the game.  Moving, firing, Hand to Hand, vehicles, etc.  We were at first a little weak on using HE but I think we have it worked out.  Many of the players had purchased the rules but have either never played or maybe played once.

Some comments that I will send off to our friends at Warlord Games:

1. Can you give an advance order then have the unit Fire and then Move?  If it was legal I would enforce the move penalty (non USA).  I did ask Andrew at Warlord and got the answer.  But wanted to let my NCO Warlord Brothers know about it if it came up in their game.  Answer: Currently that is not allowed.  The unit must move then fire.
2. If a unit runs or advances into a building our of LOS of an ambushing unit, can the Ambusher fire on them.  So it seems if the unit advances into the building they can elect to fire.  Then I would allow the Ambusher to fire first.  If the unit ran into the building they would not be sticking their necks out anyway so I would not allow the Ambusher's to fire at them since they didn't see them enter the building anyway.  Any comments would be welcome.

So here are some pictures with captions explaining the action.

Jim's Demonstration Table.  2 x 4 foot with room for troops and
dice rolling.  A small 2 x 2 gaming area in the center.  Perfect for a quick lesson!

Jim's other table for his "students" to play in an actual battle.  
This was his Tarawa board placing Marines against a couple of
squads of Japanese Troops, MMG, pill boxes and a tank.

Here is my BA Battle board.  It is collapsable.  One side folds on
top of the other.  We of course remove all of the terrain except
for the walls around the house and other field. 

We had 6 players in the American/German battle.
Everyone had a great time. 

Another view of my battle board.

Marines taking the beach.  Jim made these palm tress from scratch.  
His board texture is made using Durham Rock hard water putty.
The sea wall was made with wooden dowels.  It all looked great!  

Jim providing another taste of Bolt Action.  

Soon Jim had players jumping on his Tarawa board playing by themselves.  

Jim going through the rules

Americans and Germans fighting it out.

All three Bolt Action tables in action.

We took this picture because because it was an excellent Bazooka
shot on the Pz III coming out of the woods.

Once the Pz III went down, the Sherman was free to roam.

Americans moving quickly to take that house. 

Germans moving through the woods.

Americans getting into position