French Pavise-armed Spearmen

Here are some pictures of the Perry Miniatures' 28mm Pavisier Infantry that I've been painting. The sculpting of the figures is very nice, but the excellent LBMS shield transfers are what make these units really look great. I plan to finish 4 of these units. They will each have 4 4-figure bases for a total of 16 figures per unit. I can also mix the stands in among my crossbow units to represent pavise-equipped crossbow units.

(BELOW) Troops from Limoge.

(BELOW) Troops from Pontoise.

(BELOW) Troops from Alencon. These guys could also double as non-French heavy infantry.

First Bull Run Battle Report #1

Here is an after action review of a game we played last Sunday using my First Bull Run scenario published in this blog. We used the Piquet" Hallowed Ground rules for this game. The scale is Battalion scale, so units are regiments and artillery are batteries.

(BELOW) View of the battlefield from the South. The Confederates start around Matthews Hill. The lead Union brigades are approaching from the North.

(BELOW) View of the Confederate starting defenses from the Union side of the table.

(ABOVE) The Confederates deploy to meet the Union attack. Jackson's Brigade is deployed to the left of Matthews Hill. They can be seen at the bottom left of the picture.
(ABOVE) Only token Rebel forces were left back on Henry House Hill as the Confederates committed themselves to a forward defense. And on Turn 2, the Union brigades of Sherman and Keyes crossed a barely guarded ford and appeared on the Rebel right flank (BELOW).

(ABOVE) Only a long streak of impetus pips saved the Rebels from disaster. The Union attack was also delayed when Sherman and Porter were both killed by enemy fire. Jackson was able to use the extra impetus to redeploy his brigade from the Confederate left flank to form a defensive line on Henry House Hill. Meanwhile, the other Confederate brigades conducted a fighting withdrawal to pull away from the enveloping Union flanks.


(ABOVE) Stonewall Jackson moves infantry and batteries into line on top of Henry House Hill. Bartow's brigade on the Confederate right flank breaks and flees past Jackson's troops.
(ABOVE) By Turn 5, the Union was pushing the remaining Confederates back toward the Henry House.
(ABOVE) Meanwhile, General Joe Johnston kept a steady stream of Confederate reinforcements heading toward Henry House Hill to bolster Jackson's line.

(ABOVE) Through Turn 6, the Union continued to press its attack toward Jackson's line of gray-clad soldiers.
(ABOVE) As the massive Union assault ground its way toward Henry House Hill, Jackson felt some relief with the arrival of the brigades of Jubal Early and Kirby Smith.
(ABOVE) Midway through Turn 6, here are some close-ups of Jackson's line as they wait for the Union attack to form up and make its assault on Henry House Hill. With 4 turns left, the Union leads the Confederates in morale chips: 14 to 6. It should be interesting.
(ABOVE) Stonewall Jackson himself examines his troop dispositions while General PGT Beauregard looks on apprehensively.

(ABOVE) By TURN 8, the last Confederate survivors make it back to Henry House Hill.

(ABOVE) Sherman's Union regiments enter the woods in skirmish order and open the engagement against Stonewall Jackson's defending infantry on Henry House Hill. They receive a blistering volley that puts several of the attacking units out of action. After those casualties, the skirmishers settled down to occasional sniping at the Rebel lines. A close-up of the action is BELOW.

(ABOVE) TURN 9. More panicked Confederates flee for safety past Jackson's resolute Virginians and JEB Stuart's Black Horse cavalry.

(ABOVE) The Union army presses the assault against Henry House Hill after a brief bombardment by their massed artillery. The Confederate view BELOW.

(ABOVE) A general view of the battlefield toward the end of Turn 9.

(ABOVE) Turn 10, the final turn. Howard's brigade is devastated by plunging cannon fire from Jackson's artillery batteries on Henry House Hill. So much for the Union flanking attempt.

(ABOVE) The final Union assault on Henry Hill begins. But after some success, time runs out and darkness prevents the Union from building on their foothold.

In the end, although the Union army didn't take Henry House Hill, the casualties they inflicted on the Confederates who attempted to retreat were enough to give the Union an 11 morale chip advantage: barely a Union Decisive Victory.

Perry HYW English Command Stands

This a continuation of my new Piquet basing scheme. For a long time, I've been basing my miniatures on individual magnetic bases to use with WAB and then sticking them onto metal bases for Piquet. I've now converted to a new 40mm square basing that puts 4 knights on a base. This should make it easier to play with, store, and handle the miniatures.

In accordance with this new basing scheme, I had to make a decision on how I wanted to base my leaders. In the Hundred Years War, leaders fought in the ranks, so I based the commanders so they would blend in with the front of the battle line.

I used the excellent Perry Miniatures Personality and Command packs for my command stands. I made sure each base has a major noble, a standard bearer, and two knights who represent his personal retainers. The flags are from Battle Flag, a very affordable source for nice color flags. I stole the flag mounting idea from another blog and mounted them on tubes. This allows me to remove the flags from the standard poles and store them separately.

The Perry Personality packs for Agincourt are the best sculpts I've ever seen. The heraldry is sculpted onto the knights and is a joy to paint (with the assistance of my handy Optivisor).

(ABOVE) Lord Camoys with his retainers. Different angles BELOW.

(BELOW) Edward, Duke of York with his retainers. The highest ranking Englishman to die at Agincourt.

(BELOW) Some in-progress shots of the Count of Eu. Hopefully they show off the great detail on the figure.

And by popular request, here are some extreme close ups (BELOW).

And then with flash (BELOW). Which do you prefer?

28mm Perry Crossbowmen

Here are some pictures of some Perry crossbowmen I've been painting. Two of them are based as "Unloaded" markers (BELOW).

I've changed my basing scheme a bit. I now am basing all of my Piquet units on 40mm by 40mm bases. For heavy infantry-type units, I can fit 4 figures on a stand. For missile troops and open order infantry, I can fit 3 figures per stand.

This basing gives the units a better overall look. It makes the units look deeper when they're in line formation and it means I don't have to use those ugly sabot metal bases for Piquet. I never liked the single rank look of 28mm figures when all of the bases are in line.

Artizan WW2 Pictures

I'm posting a few pictures of some 28mm WW2 figures I painted for a friend. They are made by Artizan Designs and are some of the best-sculpted 28mm figures on the market.

(ABOVE) 101st Airborne paratroopers at D-Day.

(ABOVE) German paratroopers at Normandy.

(ABOVE) British SAS saboteurs.

Shiloh Piquet Scenario April 6, 1862

"Tonight we will water our horses in the Tennessee River."

- Confederate General A.S. Johnston

The battle of Shiloh was the first major battle fought in the western theater of the American Civil War. Up to this point, the Union had enjoyed success at Fort Donelson and in the states of Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee.

The senior Confederate commander in the West, Albert Sidney (A.S.) Johnston was considered one of the best officers to enter the war from the pre-war U.S. Army. Johnston organized a concentration of forces that consolidated troops from all of the surrounding states. This gave him local numerical superiority over the relatively scattered Union forces in the area.

Union General U.S. Grant's army was camped on the west bank of the Tennessee River at Pittsburg Landing. Grant was waiting for the arrival of General Buell's Army of the Ohio which was expected any day. Grant had one division, commanded by Lew Wallace, stationed at Crump's Landing downriver from the rest of the army. The Union commanders had no idea that Johnston had massed his forces and was approaching Grant, intent on destroying him against the Tennessee River.

The Confederates moved through the thick terrain and formed battle lines near the Union positions. Early on the morning of April 6, at approximately 6 a.m., Union pickets aggressively pushed against the growing swarms of Confederate skirmishers stalking the woods outside their camps and suddenly encountered the gray and butternut lines sweeping toward them through the trees.

The Union forces were in their camps when their pickets fled back to them, pursued closely by the Confederate brigades. The howling Rebels drove the surprised Union forces back toward Pittsburg Landing. Union General Prentiss managed to organize stiff resistance near Bloody Pond and the Confederate assault began to focus on reducing that resistance. The musket and artillery fire became so fierce that the area became known as "The Hornet's Nest". This same heavy fire also claimed the life of the Confederates' commander, A.S. Johnston.

Once the Hornet's Nest was overcome, the Confederates continued their drive to capture Pittsburg Landing, but too much time had been lost reducing the strong position. Grant arrived on the battlefield and organized a final line of defense that repulsed the exhausted Confederates with the assistance of reserve artillery and Union gunboats from the river. Late in the evening, Lew Wallace's division arrived after a confused day-long march and counter-march over country roads. During the night, Buell's army arrived and was ferried across the Tennessee River. The Confederates had lost their opportunity to seize victory. Outnumbered and exhausted, they were driven back across the battlefield the next day.

The scenario is designed for grand tactical scale Hallowed Ground, a Piquet supplement. At this scale, the units are brigades and artillery battalions. The commands are corps and divisions.

ORDER OF BATTLE

The Confederate order of battle is as follows:

• Hardee's Corps: 1 elite infantry brigade (Cleburne), 2 regular infantry brigades (Wood, Shaver) and 1 militia medium smoothbore artillery battalion. Hardee is Skilled.
• Polk's Corps: 4 militia infantry brigades (Russell, Johnson, Stewart, Stephens) and 1 regular medium smoothbore artillery battalion. Polk is Poor.
• Bragg's Corps: 6 regular infantry brigades (Anderson, Gladden, Pond, Gibson, Chalmers, Jackson) and 1 militia medium smoothbore artillery battalion. Bragg is Average.
• Breckinridge's Corps: 3 militia infantry brigades (Trabue, Staham, Bowen). Breckinridge is Average.
• General Albert Sidney Johnston is the commander in chief. He is Average.

The Union order of battle is as follows:

• Sherman's Division: 4 militia infantry brigades and 1 militia medium rifled artillery battalion. Sherman is Skilled. One of Sherman's brigades (Stuart) is detached and camped near the river at the location marked on the map.
  
• Prentiss' Division: 2 militia infantry brigades and 1 militia medium rifled artillery battalion. Prentiss is Average.
• Hurlbut's Division: 1 regular infantry brigade, 2 militia infantry brigades and 1 regular medium rifled artillery battalion. Hurlbut is Average.
• W. Wallace's Division: 3 militia infantry brigades and 1 militia medium rifled artillery battalion. Wallace is Average.
• McClernand's Division: 3 regular infantry brigades and 1 regular medium rifled artillery battalion. McClernand is Average.
• L. Wallace's Division: 3 militia infantry brigades and 1 regular medium rifled artillery battalion. Wallace is Poor.
• General Grant is the commander in chief. He is Poor until Turn 6 when he becomes Skilled.
  

Battle rosters for each side and the map are stored in the Hallowed Ground folder in the Files section of the Piquet Yahoo Group.

Infantry brigades were armed with a variety of small arms. 50% of Confederate infantry regiments can be armed with rifled muskets and 80% of Union infantry regiments can be armed with rifled muskets. The rest should be armed with smoothbore muskets. You decide.

SPECIAL SCENARIO RULES

"..the enemy was found utterly unprepared, many being surprised and captured in their tents, and others, though on the outside, in costumes better fitted to the bedchamber than to the battle-field."
- Confederate General Braxton Bragg

Surprise Attack - The Confederates achieved a remarkable degree of strategic surprise at this battle. Despite many warnings and clues that the Confederate forces were nearby in large numbers, the Union troops were totally unprepared for the sudden appearance of the Confederate attack. The Union forces were still in their camps when the battle opened and they rushed to form battle lines to defend themselves.

The Union divisions all start the battle in their camps with their division commanders and disordered.

The Hornet's Nest - A special Stratagem card should be added to the Union Sequence Deck in Turn 2: "Hornet's Nest". Once flipped, this card is removed from the Deck and the Union division closest to the Confederates' board edge makes a last stand. In the case of a tie, roll for the affected division. The brigades of this division immediately rally. From that point on, they can roll two dice versus all morale challenges and pick the highest die. Unfortunately, these brigades defend their positions and cannot make any voluntary retreats or other movement away from Confederate units. Maneuvers are permitted. If they rout, they surrender instead and are removed as if destroyed.

Union Gunboats - The naval guns of the Union gunboats USS Lexington and USS Tyler in the Tennessee River did have some impact on the Confederates as they approached Pittsburg Landing. These gunboats are represented by two heavy regular smoothbore battalions that measure range from the river's edge next to the Landing. They fire and reload just like normal artillery, but they can't be attacked.

Beauregard's Plan - Confederate General PGT Beauregard deployed the corps of the Confederate army in a column of lines. This caused a great deal of confusion during the battle because brigades from different corps were posted behind each other and as the battle developed, brigades from different corps were forced to fight alongside and support each other. This breakdown of the corps command structure was difficult for the Confederate corps commanders to overcome.

All Confederate brigades begin the game and enter the table out of command. Corps commanders can only assert command over brigades from their corps. Corps commanders can rally brigades from a different corps with an extra DOWN1 modifier.

CinC A.S. Johnston can rally units without this additional penalty but if he rallies units, he assumes personal risk at a rate of +3 per rally attempt. This accumulated personal risk is checked on each Officer Check card vs. a d20. Once the check is passed, the personal risk returns to 0.

MORALE CHIPS

Total starting strength for the Union is 11 militia infantry brigades, 4 regular infantry brigades, 2 regular medium rifled artillery battalions, and 3 militia medium rifled artillery battalions. A total of 20 units. The Union have 55 morale chips.

Total strength for the Confederates is 1 elite infantry brigade, 8 regular infantry brigades, 7 militia infantry brigades, and 3 militia medium smoothbore artillery battalions. A total of 19 units. The Confederates have 40 morale chips.

PIQUET NOTES

I determine the armament of my infantry units when I make the Troop Quality Check for each unit. I roll a d10 for each unit and if I roll a 5 or less (Confederates) or a 8 or less (Union) the unit is armed with rifled muskets.

The battle is a smaller grand tactical scale battle and I recommend using one Sequence Deck per side. The Union deck should be Poor until Grant appears when it becomes Skilled. The Confederate deck should be Average.

DEPLOYMENT CLOSE UP:

REINFORCEMENTS

Reinforcements arrive on table in any formation as follows. Reinforcements can enter within 6" of their entry points:

TURN 2:
Confederate:

• Pond/BRAGG, Trabue/BRECKINRIDGE, and Arty/HARDEE at A.
• CinC A.S. JOHNSTON, General BRAGG, Stewart/POLK, Stephens/POLK, Gibson/BRAGG, Arty/BRAGG, and Arty/POLK at B.
• Bowen/Breckinridge at C.

TURN 3:
Confederate:

• Statham/BRECKINRIDGE at B.
  
• General BRECKINRIDGE, Chalmers/BRAGG, Jackson/BRAGG at C.

TURN 6:
Union: CinC GRANT arrives at Pittsburg Landing.

TURN 7:
Union: L. Wallace's Division arrives at D.

Until the commander in chief arrives on the table, brigade commanders must make Major Morale tests themselves.

The scenario is 10 turns long. Union troops rout toward Pittsburg Landing. Confederate troops rout toward their entry board edge .

TERRAIN

The creeks and woods are all Class II. Both of them block LOS.

The creeks in this area were all in wooded ravines that fed into the larger creeks and the river. When a brigade pays the Class II cost for the creek, it is considered to be in the ravine. A unit can only have LOS into a creek ravine if it is adjacent to the creek. A unit defending either side of a creek from a unit inside the creek ravine is in a superior position.

The roads on the map were very rough and give no bonuses to movement.

TACTICAL TIPS

The Union player has to really choose between trading time for space. Union brigades need to be rallied, but giving up too much ground can hand Pittsburg Landing to the Confederates. The Hornet's Nest can be a blessing or a curse. It might delay the Confederate attack or it might needlessly sacrifice Union units that are needed to defend the landing.

The Confederate player has to push, push, push! Take advantage of the initial disorder of the surprised Union divisions and destroy as many as possible. If you give it time to breathe, the Union army will recover, stop, and destroy you.

VICTORY

If the Confederates capture Pittsburg Landing, the Union must give them 15 morale chips.

Subtract the Union morale chips from the Confederate morale chips.

Greater than 20=Crushing Confederate victory. A.S. Johnston is a hero, dead or alive. Move over, Robert E. Lee.
Greater than 10= Decisive Confederate victory. War ends in 1866. Great job, but the Union still won.
Greater than 0=Marginal Confederate victory. Grant's career is ended. Rosecrans becomes President.
Less than 0=Marginal Union victory. What's the plan for tomorrow?
Less than 10=Decisive Union victory. Historical result. Go read a history book.
Less than 20=Crushing Union victory. Alabama and Mississippi are defenceless. Beauregard commits seppuku after the battle. Vicksburg surrenders when it hears the news.

If you play this scenario, feel free to give me feedback in the Comments section of this blog.

Playtests: 0

Amended 01/31/2011 (Added Piquet Notes for musket armament and sequence decks)

Gateway 2011 Antietam Convention Game

I'll be running my Antietam scenario for Piquet: Hallowed Ground on February 19, 2011 (Saturday) at 9:00 a.m. at the Los Angeles Orccon 2011 convention.



If you haven't seen the game in action, feel free to check out the Battle Reports and Scenario tags on the blog.

Feel free to reserve a spot in the game by emailing me or commenting on this article. Even if you'd just like to see Piquet in action or observe the game, stop by and check it out. Minor kibitzing is completely acceptable as long as it doesn't prevent me from giving annoying and unsolicited advice to the poor players.

ALSO: If you want to play the Union, I owe you a drink at the bar, but there can be absolutely no whining or crying about the following topics:

• McClellan is a bad general.
• Where is Burnside?
• The Confederates sure seem to have a lot of good cards in their deck.
• Seriously...has anybody f%$%king seen Burnside?