Big Bethal- RF&F AAR

Fire and Fury is sometimes refered to as Fire and Frustration. It's still my go-to for ACW, but last night reminded me of how damaging bad rolls can be to an otherwise great game. With all the extra charts and modifiers piled on by the Regimental version, they can really do harm.

The table and the miniatures were great. John over at Curio Clashes provided both.
The Union had a tough nut to crack. A slog across swampy, tree filled terrain to assault the rebel works. The forces start fairly even and then the Union troops start arriving in hopes to overwhelm the opposition.

One of the units, an Indiana regiment (9th, 11th?) starts out already disordered due to some friendly fire earlier in the dy. Best change out of those gray Zuoave uniforms, boys. Then they really got plastered by the Rebel guns. They were rendered combat ineffective early. One unit out.
Then, a succession of truly abysmal Union die rolls for maneuver, the Blue Bellies got jammed up on the roads. Fodder for the Rebel gun emplacements. Way too early, it was obvious they were going to win.
S, just like the real Battle of Big Bethal, it was a Union disaster. A combination of green troops and bad luck spoiled the assault. But still, you can't beat a night with friends, toys and beer.

Campaign for the Kingdom, Chapter 13: A cold, dark, little affair

"Oswald, Duke of Dunharrow, claimant to the throne of the Kingdom, had lost most of his men along the road. Disease and homesickness had claimed most of them. Only Duke Ulrik stood with him this cold day, facing Baron Oswald the Younger and Duke Roderick.

Two villages stood between them. The only chance for fodder and lodgings over the coming winter.
Horns blared and Oswald's men trudged slowly forward. Across the battlefield his enemies moved in fits and stops, seemingly not sure what to do.

Oswald's men surged forward, the lighter troops out stripping the foot knights and pikes. A lone unit of archers far forward of the rest. They loosed. Ulrik watched in disgust as a unit of mercenary pikemen fled.
A village was taken by each side. Oswald's village was held by archers. They were peppering Horace's flank led by Ulrik. On the other end of the line, his men were trading blows with Roderick's.
Each side was losing men. Too many.
Ulrik was able to dislodge Oswald's men in the village and take it. Horace now had both. That was too much for the pretender's troops. They fled into the snow fall that had started during the battle.
Horace held the field. One step closer to the throne. But would he have men to hold it?"
A great little fight with only 4 players. Also, a close one.

A quick picture of a quick game

Last night I had the pleasure of trying out the soon to be released "Galleys, Guns and Glory" rules by Skull and Crown, that go with their great ships.
As I mentioned before, I was able to get a hold of the pre-release ships thanks to trade. I'm doing all the flags that will come with purchase of the ships, in return for a fleet of said ships.

The game was easy to pick up and fun to play. Something I need as most Game nights are essentially mini conventions. There was hasty gun fire, fabulous critical hits, desperate boarding actions and lots of blood in the water.
We didn't use alot of the extras like special Captains or national traits, just to let everyone get ahold of the rules, which they picked up within 2 turns. Victory went to the Turks this time.Now, back to painting ships...

Once more into 5 Core

We had a small group (even got the Boy to play) last night. It was perfect chnace to run another 5 Core game.
This was a follow game to the previous Rebel victory. Flushed with success the Rebels move up to the next no name town that seems to populate their miserable world, hoping to wreck a few key objectives.

 Rebel forces hug all available cover

They had five to choose from, everything from a statue of galactic hero Bud Lastyear, to a run down refinery. Five objectives the defending Marines knew about, but the Rebels only cared about 3. But which three?
Once again the Marines were outnumbered. Mostly for balance issues as the Marines have armor saves the Rebels do not, and better weapons.
It started out very cautious for both sides. Then, the Rebs let a missile fly at the refinery. A miss. There's one objective identified!

 Marines move up to hold objectives

Marine Captain Kargan takes a direct hit from a rocket and survives thanks to his armor.

A brave Rebel ran into the empty street, survived incoming fire and then placed a demo charge at the base of the statue. Three turns later, BOOM! One objective taken out, the symbol of Galactic oppression.
There was alot of "Scurry" and "Firefight" events rolled. This made some interesting decisions. ONe player "figured things out" towards the end and used a Scurry to place all his men ready to open up. The next turn, the Marines peeked out to fire at the now exposed Rebels and were immediately met with a hail of fire from the ready Rebels.
The refinery went down to another missile, and in a with the Marines pinned a final rocket took out the final objective.
Another good game. I think we did everything right this time. Not a game for the gamey or faint of heart. If you loved Squad Leader, you'll like these rules.

And now for my holiday distraction

I was able to get my hot little hands on these pre-production beauties from Admiral Foss at Skull and Crown. They are samples of his upcoming Lepanto line of Mediterranean Galleys.
I'm not a fan of naval battles in general. Big, flat expanses with ships lined up up to hammer away just don't do it for me. However, I love all things Renaissance warfare, and these little guys are both fun to put together and will be a breeze to paint.
They are a nice scale. Not huge and not too small to paint all the lovely colors and stripes of the period. 6mm crew will be perfect.
I was also given a sneak peek at the rules and they're also right down my alley. Shooting and ramming and boarding actions. That's the kind of naval wargaming I like.