Gettysburg, 1 July 1863. The Game Report

Finally, after a year of planning, modeling, painting, and cursing the size of the project, the 2013 Guns Of April Gettysburg game has been played out. Last Friday night at Adepticon, most of the GOA team gathered and threw down on our table that had traveled all the way from Maryland on the Battlefront Miniatures truck. As is always the way with big, collaborative projects, there were a few hiccups along the way. These hiccups included:

• One team member unable to deliver his four regiments of Confederates to Rob before he left for the show. Thankfully Merle had thought to bring some spares and after a frenzied hour of flocking, we had enough modes to cover the shortfall.

• Yours truly forgetting to bring his Guns Of April shirt. Not much that could be done about it, but rest assured I did not play sans shirt.

• The rental truck containing our tables and terrain leaked as it traveled through the wild storms that lashed the Midwest on their journey out to the show. The boards suffered the worst of it, with the surface buckling in a number of places, and the PVA glue being "reactivated" - creating large patches of white on the tables. Fortunately we were able to move a couple of tree bases around to cover the most glaring of these spots. As you can see in the table shot above, the overall effect wasn't diminished as the eye was drawn to the details, filling in "the gaps" as it were.

We had six team members playing: Dave P, Joe, Merle, and myself for the Union - Rob and Jamie for the Confederates. Fortunately Merle's buddies Chris and Jay volunteered to fill the command shoes for the Rebels, and we set off with four players aside.

The Confederates fielded four Infantry Brigades, two of them supported by attached artillery.
The Union fielded three Infantry Brigades, one Cavalry Brigade, and one Artillery Brigade.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention we had over 1,000 models on the table at one point, not too shabby ; )

Anyway, on to the photos!

Looking west along the Chambersburg Pike, the famous Seminary in the foreground (graciously supplied by Jim Ferich) and flanked by Buford's Cavalry Brigade (commanded by Dave P).

The view from the southeast, the Iron Brigade (commanded by me) in column advancing along McPherson's Ridge and Willoughby Run.

Archer's Confederate Infantry Brigade (commanded by Rob) appear from the west, ready to advance on Gettysburg. All other Confederate brigades were off table and would enter play randomly.

Rob (left), Chris (center), and Jay (right) begin to plan their assault.

A great command roll saw the Iron Brigade barrel down the pike towards Archer's Brigade (their historical counterparts in the battle).

At the start of the second turn, two of the Confederate Brigades appeared to the north. It was with no small amount of consternation that the Union realized, with some good rolling, that the rebels could break the back of the North early on. We also had plenty of onlookers for the game, anywhere from 5-25 at a time. Not too bad for a convention founded on sci-fi and fantasy gaming.

Here you can see the Confederates advancing onto the table, starting to close in on the Iron Brigade on the right, and traversing the Railway Cut on the left.

The Iron Brigade hunker down behind the fences on the Chambersburg Pike.

By now the Union Artillery Brigade had entered play but unfortunately, due to some miscalculations, found itself up against a fence, still limbered up. The following turn saw the gunners handily beaten in combat by the boys from the South. Without a single shot being fired, the Union's much-valued support was removed from the table.

Looking north we can see the Buford's Cavalry and a Union Infantry Brigade (commanded by Merele) building a solid defensive line across the Railway Cut, hoping to prevent a breakout by Jamie's Confederates.

About two thirds of the way through the battle, you can see (roughly) the state of affairs. The Union right is pretty solid, while it's left is seriously strung out and under attack from two sides. Also, most of the cookies have been eaten ; )

On the western end of the Union line the 2nd Wisconsin are under assault from rebels to the left and front. Thanks to some surprising dice rolling I was able to bust out a paraphrase of the quote that lead to the Iron Brigade's nickname (McClellan to Hooker: "What troops are those fighting in the Pike?" Hooker replied, "[Brigadier] General Gibbon's brigade of Western men." McClellan stated, "They must be made of iron."). After three combat phases, however, the 2nd Wisconsin finally failed their break test and were forced to retire.

And finally, Joe's Irish Brigade (after four turns of nothing but one move per turn) were able to create a new defensive line, just as the Iron Brigade were broken and started to fall back.

In the end, we all agreed that it had been an excellent game and that the result was a minor Union victory, but not so strong as to cause the Confederates to buy us beers. There was a little bit of backslapping and a few huzzahs, before we launched straight into discussions about next year's project. But more on that later...

Thanks to everyone who has been following this blog for your comments and support along the way : )

Cheers
Dave

The Iron Brigade - Complete!

Brigadier General Solomon Meredith and the color bearer for the 1st (Iron) Brigade, 1st Division, 1st Corps. 

Just a few more days until we get to see everything on the tabletop. Very exciting!

2nd Wisconsin 

6th Wisconsin 

 7th Wisconsin 

 19th Indiana 

 24th Michigan 

 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry - mounted 

 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry - dismounted (and yes, the fence does travel with them)

The Iron Brigade on the march, supported by the men of the 6th Penn. Cavalry. 

First Glimpse of the Iron Brigade

In order to keep me motivated when I'm so close, but yet so far, I decided to take a couple of shots of the assembled Iron Brigade thus far.

Here are all the boys, two regiments in firing line, three regiments in march, one squadron of cavalry (both mounted and dismounted), plus my command base and a few casualty markers. 173 models in all.

And here's a closer look at the last regiment to be finished, sandwiched in between the only two completed units ; )

Only a month to go!

Cheers
Dave

The 7th Wisconsin in firing line.

Well, I have finally finished off the boys from the 7th Wisconsin, and have thereby rounded out my contribution from the state of Wisconsin. Only my Solomon Meredith command stand, one horse holder stand, and the men from the 19th Indiana to go (along with a few markers and so forth).

Much like the rest of my regiments, the 7th Wisconsin are primarily plastics with a handful of metals sprinkled throughout, including some casualty models, sergeants, and command group.

At the time of posting we have roughly 45 days until Adepticon. I hope everyone is cracking on with their painting requirements ; )

You can check out the rest of my boys here:
• 2nd Wisconsin
• 6th Wisconsin
• 24th Michigan
• 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry

Cheers
Dave

The 24th Michigan, ready for basing.

Another unit bites the dust, so to speak. I'm another 30 models closer to completing the Iron Brigade, and feeling better for getting past this "hump" unit (this was the middle infantry unit of five).

I know I'm going to be swamped with other painting tasks and so on during January, so I'm looking towards February to convert and paint the 7th Wisconsin, and then March for the 19th Indiana. If that goes smoothly, I'll be able to finish off my command, artillery, and assorted markers in April, all ready for their big debut on the tabletop at Adepticon.

I hope you like them, and I hope we'll see some more Union regiments march onto these pages soon.

Cheers

Dave

Paint on the 6th Wisconsin

It has been great to see a nice little surge from the Guns of April team members of late, post pics of their WIP and finished units. I'm sure as things get closer to April we'll see an even bigger increase in the quantity of posts!

Anyway, on the Union front I've finished putting paint to model for my 6th Wisconsin unit (pictured above) and painting up a firing line was a nice change from the marching pose of the 2nd Wisconsin. I'll be doing all the basing once I've completed the two units pictured below.

Here is the first shot of the 24th Michigan regiment. For this unit I used a mix of Perry miniatures, almost all of them wearing frock coats (so there was no need to sculpt them). The models were lacking, however, the Hardee hat made famous by the Iron Brigade (aka the Black Hat Brigade), so a solid number of this unit are now wearing them. I decided these boys would be the 24th Michigan as I think the mixture of heads and the variety of equipment gives them the feel of a rough and ready unit a bit late to the game, fitting the regiment from the wilds of the hand-shaped state that was the last to join the brigade.

And here are my 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry unit dismounted. I've modeled them so they will be behind a white, picket fence (from the Perry/Renedra sprue), but I've left it off for ease of painting.

Hopefully my fellow Union players are cranking out their models and will have something to show us very soon.

Cheers

Dave

Game Markers Done!!!

Well, before I moved forward with my army I wanted to get the approval of those thread counters on color choices for the coats, trousers and canteens. So, Don, I guess this is where you come in and comment on my base colors and highlights for those items. :)  If you notice anything else please let me know so I can correct it for the rest of my army. Thanks guys.

 I used the same basing colors that Dave T. suggested but I don't have any flowers. I am also trying to decide if the skin could use one more highlight to bring out the cheek bones, nose, chin, etc.

69th New York - One Step Closer

They may not be much to look at right now but hopefully in the next few weeks they will be completely done and based. I just bought one of those simple photography booths and I am still working out the kinks so the pictures may be a little suspect for the next post or two.

Here is the 69th in all its glory. Soon they will get some highlights and their colors.

Here is the Perry Miniatures metal command to accompany the plastics above. I ended up buying the metal command for each of my regiments for two reasons. First, the plastic command are not wearing sack coats and second I wanted the actions of my command to match what the regiment was doing. 

Stay tuned for more exciting action from the soldiers north of the border........

Double Canister Casualties

Well, here are some pictures of casualty markers that I hope I don't have to use but I know I am not that good of a general. These are Perry Miniatures casualties and the miniatures on hex bases will be used to mark Disorder and the miniatures on the 60mm round are going to be used to track hits on regiments. The miniatures are merely basecoated and dipped (Army Painter) at this stage and once I have some more stuff painted to this point I will begin some final highlights. 

I decided to create a wood lined box for the die to rest in. This way the die isn't accidently  picked up and the wood makes it  seem like a little trench. 

Here you can see the die all snug in its new home. Hopefully no regiment under my command will ever suffer that many hits but you never know what will happen. 

The 6th Wisconsin are underway!

Another unit of Perry plastics has received the Iron Brigade treatment, with the bulk of the unit receiving the "frock coat/Hardee hat with ostrich feather" treatment.

A few models throughout the unit are sporting forage caps, or sack coats, or shell jackets, just for a little variety. Now it's time to get on with the painting.

Last week my Perry Miniatures order arrived! I now have all the models I need to complete my Iron Brigade (including all five infantry regiments, an artillery piece, the attached 6th Pennsylvania cav (both mounted and dismounted, with horse handlers) and my brigade commander.

Finally, my Movember moustache is coming along nicely. Not quite up to Sam Elliot/Buford level, but on the way. I ask now that you head over to my MoSpace and make a donation!

Click here to donate.

6th Pennsylvania Cavalry (mounted) Completed (almost)

And another one bites the dust!

The mounted version of my assigned cavalry unit is complete (apart from the GMB Designs guidon which is on its way). It was pretty easy to get these guys all wrapped up as I actually painted the first six models back in 2009 for an article in WI261 on Union cavalry. The models are the excellent Perry Miniatures plastics.

It was a fairly simple thing to paint up two more models and rebase the older guys.

I hope you like them. I only have the dismounted version of this unit, four infantry regiments, one artillery piece, and a few command stands left to paint ; )

Our Movember efforts have started with a bang. Already the team has raised over $1,000. Personally, I'd like to see us raise $3,000 but we can only do that with your support. Please head HERE to donate.

Cheers
Dave