A wargamer and author from that classic era of wargaming who perhaps has not always been recognised as much as the more well known ones (i.e. Donald Featherstone, Charles Grant, Tony Bath, Brigadier Peter Young, Terry Wise and then later George Gush, Stuart Asquith, etc) is Charlie Wesencraft. While many will know him and he probably is better known than Joseph Morschauser and David Nash (see my Wargaming Tomes Collection: Part One post) I for one did not see his books early on in my wargaming career (possibly due to being in New Zealand – although other local gamers here have said they saw them in libraries and such in the 1980’s or very late ’70s). I was interested to recently read an interview with Charlie Wesencraft that reinforces my view that he seems to have contributed more than just his 2 books in the early 1970’s to the classic wargaming era.
Continue reading “An Interview with Charles Wesencraft”Category: American Civil War
Engle Matrix Games
I’ve recently been introduced to Engle Matrix Games (well perhaps re-introduced as I had read about them briefly in an issue of the SOTCW Journal sometime ago) by Steve Thomas. This came about in a discussion around how to play a Crossfire campaign where the majority of players are in different countries. The idea is to find a system that is rule set agnostic, is ‘story’ driven, and is not constrained by technical details – in many ways in keeping with Crossfire’s own philosophy (although Engle Matrix games are quite suitable for any period and use with any miniatures rule set – heck you don’t even need miniatures or a set of rules to resolve the battles). “Engle Matrix Games are a simple low-tech game engine that allows players to do an amazing number of things” as one gamer has described (in a MS Word Doc). Continue reading “Engle Matrix Games”
Marching On Richmond: The Conclusion
Having broken from their 1864-1865 winter camps the armies headed further into Virginia, the mass of the Union forces always looking to outmanoeuvre the Confederates to expose Richmond and end the war. By late March a decisive battle emerged to conclude the Petersburg Siege, and my forces (General Ulysses P. Rickards) were dispatched to hold vital crossroads to the flank of Five Forks to prevent any last ditched effort to raise the siege by General Longman’s Confederate forces and the balance of General Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia under General Pickett. Continue reading “Marching On Richmond: The Conclusion”
Marching On Richmond: Winter 1864-65
After the action at Virginia Farm both sides moved into winter quarters, setting up cantonments in Virginia. As Spring 1865 approached and we prepared for the new campaigning season my Division received new reinforcements, and smattering of new recruits. Meanwhile the 2nd New Hampshire, 4th “Magnificent” Maine, and 54th “Unstoppable” Massachusetts (Coloured) were all disbanded due to low numbers and the survivors used to reinforce other regiments – my force therefore was thus: Continue reading “Marching On Richmond: Winter 1864-65”
Printing Action Cards For Longstreet
If you are interested in Longstreet you will know it requires cards to play. There is an official set available from Sam Mustafa with the rules, which requires the action deck for one player, plus all the advanced cards for other features of the (advanced) rules and the campaign. However you do need to have 2 decks of the action cards for a standard game – the official deck will provide you one set for 1 player, plus all the advanced cards you need for both players. So to get a second action deck (assuming your regular opponent(s), or lack of the same, don’t have a set) you can either do as I have done and buy a second official set, or you can just use the lower quality free PDF from Sam’s Website to printout, stick to card, and cut out. Continue reading “Printing Action Cards For Longstreet”
Marching On Richmond: Virginia Farm 1864
As the summer of 1864 dragged on we continued to manoeuvre and fight indecisive engagements with our erstwhile rebel opponents. As Fall approached however we finally cornered the main Confederate Army in Virginia to force a major action to defend Richmond. My Division was engaged near the centre-right of our line, at a place we dubbed “Virginia Farm” where once again we found General Longman’s forces opposing us… Continue reading “Marching On Richmond: Virginia Farm 1864”
1866 And All That
1866 And All That is the blog of well known New Zealand Wargamer & Sculptor Mark Strachan. Mark has been involved in Historical wargaming since 1972. He is most well known as the sculptor behind many (or most) of the figures and/or models produced by the now defunct New Zealand wargaming manufacturer Military Miniatures (the business eventually ceased operating as Military Miniatures, but then morphed into the current Battlefront/Flames of War business). Many a New Zealand Wargamer has buildings, terrain (rivers, roads, scenery), or figures, designed by Mark in their collection. Continue reading “1866 And All That”
Warlord North American Buildings
To supplement my Perry Miniatures’ ACW Buildings I also have a couple of Warlord laser-cut MDF Settler’s Log Cabins – like the Perry buildings these are suitable for most North American eras from the French & Indian Wars & American Revolution through to the American Civil War and turn of the (20th) century – and at a stretch the 19th Century NZ Colonial Wars as well. Continue reading “Warlord North American Buildings”
Perry Miniatures ACW Buildings
These are some ‘in progress’ pictures of my 28mm Perry Miniatures’ North American Buildings – I’m hoping they will be useful for not just the ACW (American Civil War), but also for the American Old West & Indian Wars, some Colonial theatres, and even early 20th Century pulp periods. Included is a simple conversion of the Perry Store kit, into a small Blacksmith & Stables. The conversion and the kit assembly & painting/basing was done by my fellow gamer, Kieran Mahony (6mm Wargaming). I just need to now flock the bases and add all the micro detail… Continue reading “Perry Miniatures ACW Buildings”
Miniature Addiction!
Roundie, from my local gaming group (the Auckland Wargaming Club), has recently launched his own website & blog of his wargaming & modelling work – he’s one of our area’s most prolific modellers & painters and has built some amazing terrain boards and scratch-built buildings & terrain… He’s also running a local SDS (Song of Drums & Shakos) Napoleonic Skirmish Campaign at the AWC. Continue reading “Miniature Addiction!”
Marching On Richmond: Sam Mustafa’s Longstreet
You may have been wondering what happened to our Marching On Richmond Campaign? Well, after the May 1864 action we did successfully conclude the campaign and I will post the final 1864 and 1865 battle reports and campaign narrative sometime soon… Meanwhile if you haven’t already realised we were playing with a near final draft of Sam Mustafa’s “Longstreet” – the latest in his Honour Series of games… Longstreet is now finished and the books & cards have been printed and Sam is planning an August release, however in the meantime you can download a ‘Lite‘ version of the game from the Honour Downloads Page. This is a very cut down version, but for those interested will give them a taste of what the full Longstreet will be when it’s released in a month. Continue reading “Marching On Richmond: Sam Mustafa’s Longstreet”
Getting My 28mm ACW Underway
With all this ACW Action Going On it’s finally motivated me to resume construction of my 28mm ACW forces – I’ll be building both Union & Confederate Forces to provide opposing armies, and as originally mentioned I was looking at building these forces initially for Fire & Fury (for both Brigade & Regimental level games). However now that Sam Mustafa has Longstreet due as the next game in the Honour series I’ll be looking to build them principally for that but still compatible for Fire & Fury as well (and obviously they will be usable for Black Powder and similar if needed). I started this project about 4-5 years ago and got a portion of the troops painted up but then ground to a halt – however I’ve now started basing the painted troops and have more under-way, so here’s some photos of the initial portion of my Union forces…