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Aero Hobbies Day – November Gaming

Wargamerabbit — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 03:20:28 +0000

Under the direction and excellent organization of Adam H., another Aero hobbies (Santa Monica CA) game day has come and gone. With several events planned, even the rainy day didn’t prevent active gamers from their appointed dice rolling. Reported by WR from Wargamerabbit.

Game presentations: WR’s 25mm /28mm Napoleonic game representing a 1805 Elchingen like action, a 28mm WAB Siege and Conquest game (storming the old french castle), and a 15mm FOW desert battle. Three different game write ups given below.

WR’s Napoleonic game was a scenario loosely based upon the battle of Elchingen 1805. Dan brought his early Imperial French so WR rostered up a 1805 Austrian force for tabletop action.

French Lannes V corps: Two French divisions of line and legere regiments (9-10 battalions). One battery of 8lb artillery for each division. Attached light cavalry brigade of three regiments (2x hussar, 1x chasseur a cheval) and 4lb horse battery. Small reserve artillery command of 2x 12lb positional batteries.

Austrian Column under FML Riesch: 8 line regiments (8×3 btns.), small hussar half regiment, my 1790′s carabinier regt for favor, 2x 6lb positional artillery, 1x cavalry batteries.

Table overview with Austrian forces deployed on the hillside (Abbey of Elchingen) and along the right side of photo.

Austrian deployment at start

Austrian plan….hold the hillside with the abbey position, then push the French right flank with strong Austrian force.Even an Austrian can follow those orders.

Austrian massed forces on Austrian left flank await the french appearance

French arrive. Their deployment was one command per turn….so the order of appearance was…French infantry division, French light cavalry brigade, French infantry division, reserve artillery (2x 12lb) if required. First French division arrives below. Two legere and two-line regiments with their 8lb battery.

First French division arrives...

Seeing the approaching French, the Austrian plan is placed in motion.

Austrian left flank advances....with light forces leading. Austrians on hill retain their positions

French expand their deployment and their light cavalry arrive to support their infantry.

French expand their deployment with light cavalry brigade arriving...

Austrians, in parade formations, advance to engage the French legere. Looking good with their SYW tactics. A few supporting battalions in square, seeing the advancing French cavalry.

With stately dressed lines, the Austrians first clashes with the approaching French infantry...

The second French division arrives and advances towards the abbey of Elchingen on the hill. Austrian freikorp skirmishers engage their counterparts as French columns push them back.

Another French division arrives behind the first…they start to push back the Austrian skirmisher freikorps.

French 8lb artillery engage the advancing Austrian close order line.

Austrian lines take losses from French artillery...

French light cavalry call a charge. Some Austrian line battalion retire in confusion or disorder (shaken) before the charge. The second line Austrian squares and their grenadier support stand firm. (game note: Pre-formed squares don’t check morale from declared charges)

After some French cavalry regiments charge, the Austrian line weaken...squares are formed in second line...

Austrian senior command arrives to rally the Austrian lines….

Austrian FML Riesch rides up to steady his troops...squares are formed

Overview of the Austrian left flank action....

Austrian counter-play….Austrian heavy cavalry (using my Austrian 1790′s carabinier regiment for this battle…they never see the tabletop)...position for calling a charge. French are surprised and fall into disorder (shaken). (note the reversed miniature in battalion formation)

Meanwhile, the Austrian right ride up their cavalry to charge the started French infantry...

Charge effects….French infantry routed away, soon the horse battery will be overrun by the battered Austrian carabinier regiment.

French infantry running away after some hard close action, the venerable French horse battery was next to the disordered Austrian cavalry...

French become active on Austrian left flank. Massed columns, artillery firing and cavalry positioned to charge home on the Austrian infantry.

Left flank again, French columns crash into the shaken Austrian lines, French cavalry sound their trumpeters for charge...

Thundering hoofs, the French light cavalry hussars ride over the Austrian infantry line. Sabers carve a bloody path (ride though).

Austrian lovers...don't look...French cavalry ride over the Austrian infantry...pass the heinz...

French right flank view of the preceding...

Re-organizing themselves, the French resume their advance. Austrians on hillside watch the French advance.

French laft flank sorting themselves out after the sudden Austrian cavalry charge...

French sorted out, back in marching formations, they press forward...

French general Dan has the true measure of the Austrians….

French general Dan has"the measure" of the Austrians....Austrians on hill still look down on the advancing French infantry...

With the Austrian left command shattered, the Austrian plan in pieces….time to think about plan B for Austrians….battlefield retirement.

With Austrian left command totally scattered (40%+ loss), the French look unstoppable...

Final overview as the Austrian weakened left disengages and the Austrian position on the hill act as rearguard.

Austrians pull the plug...time to retire for another day.

Good game Dan. Austrians had their moment in time…but your steady pressure with the veteran French infantry won the day along with well timed French light cavalry charges.

Next time…..Always the next time with Austrians.

Battle of Elchingen 1805: Link for a little background material.

WarHammer Ancient Battles Game (WAB) with Siege and Conquest

From the words of Adam H., the game master and event organizer….the french castle action report:

Mark, Greg, and I were assaulting a French castle with an Army of Normans at arms in the 12th century. French lords fighting French lords for stinky cheese, hairy women, and red wine. The defenders were Larry and Marc. The attacking force outnumbered the defenders and were able to collapse the main wall and pummel through the gate. The defender’s crossbows proved lethal, as was well as their motivation to halt the Norman onslaught. The defenders managed to carry the day, while sustained heavy casualties.

A local monk, positioned in the castle chapel, and fast paint brush work, captured the action for history. Photo and commentary below. Additional photos at: Monk Link photos taken by Monk Larry.

Initial set up....Besiegers ready to advance

Defenders on the crumbling walls

While assault is readied, defenders give he besiegers the old VO5 boiling water treatment

After some sustained door knocking, the hinges give way, and the rush is on...

Meanwhile, with some hand of god's assistance, the besiegers swarm the walls, pushing back the defending crossbowmen....

Overview of the melee besides the castle gate. Seems traffic is heavy going both ways on the same lane....crash!

More brawling under the gate...knights push their way in...

With their militia garrison scattering, two brave but foolish heroes try to stem the tide...knights are thinking speed bumps...

The crafy garrison knights seal the gateway, sealing in the besiegers knights, who are chasing down the fleeing garrison militia.

With gateway blocked and secured, all other besiegers defeated, the rallied crossbowmen go hunting knights quest...fish in a barrel.

Castle siege game (background) and WR's Napoleonic game (foreground) at Aero.

WR’s words of wisdom….castles have one way in….and only one way out. Control the toll booth. WR enjoyed watching the miniature medieval action beside his game. Thanks Adam, Mark, Greg, Larry and Marc for the free show.

Flames of War Desert Game

Now some public announcement words from Christian S. and the 15mm FOW game group.

“Since opposition was a no-show, Panzerregiment 8 held a training exercise using the new mission the Tommies seem to like: “Dust Up”.

Hauptmann Frank’s 2.Kompanie, a Leichte Panzerkompanie, reinforced with a batterie from 1./A.R. 33 and a schutzenzug from 1./S.R. 115 faced Hauptmann Franck’s 4.Kompanie, a Mittlere Panzerkompanie reinforced with a schwere spahtruppe from A.A.33 and a gepanzerte schutzenzug from 2./S.R.115.

The engagement was fought on Aero Hobby’s recreation of a small village next to a wadi north-east of Gambut, near the Regiment’s staging area. The action started with a feint by 4.Kompanie’s spahtruppe south-west of the village whilst the schwerezug of the panzerkompanie (with 3 Pz IVE) maneuvered to gain observation of the freshly unlimbered guns from 1./A.R.33. The leichte Feldhaubitze replied by covering the Panzer IV in nebelwand whilst their mittlere panzerzug maneuvered to chase away the spahtruppe. The judges ruled that the spahtruppe disengagement was timely enough for them to avoid any danger from their neu 5cm cannons.

The 4.Kompanie Pz IVE, reinforced with Hauptmann Franck’s befehlspanzer decided to maneuver through the village to engage 2. Kompanie’s Pz IIIG, which was itself reinforced with Hauptmann Frank’s stabszug and the guns from 1.S.R. 33. The exact details of the engagement remain ‘streng geheimen’, but suffice it to say that the judges were scrupulous in adjudicating hits and disallowing near-misses, especially from the artillery. The result after four turns is both panzerzugs judged destroyed and Hauptmann Franck’s befehlspanzer bailed.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the village the spahzug awaited Hauptman Frank’s reserves. Having some time, they meticulously sighted-in their guns and informed the judges of their efforts. When the schutzen arrived and marched right up to the sighting marks the judges had no choice but to declare the entire first wave of the platoon out of action! Although the remainder gamely continued to advance towards the objective they too were judged to have been wiped out once the spahtruppe was joined by panzer II from Hauptmann Franck’s leichtezug. The schutzen were followed by Frank’s leichtezug, who then engaged in a 2cm versus 2cm duel that proved pointless.

The decisive moment for the exercise came when Hauptmann Franck remounted his befehlspanzer and with careful shooting from his 7.5cm gun forced Hauptmann Frank to bail from his. At the same time the 4.Kompanie’s gepanzerte schutzenzug roared up in their halftracks and sprinted out towards their objective in true stormtrooper fashion. Despite the best efforts of the 1/.A.R.33 guns the judges ruled that the schutzen could not be dislodged.

Panzerregiment 8 looks forwards to applying the lessons learned today against the Tommies, and with live rounds chambered there will be no worries about whether the judges are going to allow the hits!”

Report from Christen S. radio report to German HQ.

Another successful Aero gaming day. Thanks Adam for the organizational effort. Look forward to future events scheduled on the 1st Sunday of every month.

Michael aka WR

wargamerabbit.wordpress.com

Aero Hobbies located at: 2918 Santa Monica Blvd. Santa Monica CA. Phone (310) 828-5264

Monthly games organized by Adam H. for the 1st Sunday of the month. Check the HMGS PSW Yahoo group for additional information.

The “Dogs of War” raise the bar.

Harmon — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 03:49:53 +0000

The Dogs of War set up an incredible game set in Africa at So Cal Smackdown in Anaheim. The 25mm terrain and miniatures were fantastic and photographic. One of the great features of the table was this extraordinary battle flag that let everyone know the name of the game, their club and their organization affiliation. These public games are a great way to get the word out about the HMGS/PSW and the flag allows them to get that information even when we are on coffee break! Thanks everyone for a great show. Attendance at Hobby Day in Anaheim yesterday set a record and was a gigantic over post convention attendance last year. At least 10% of the new attendees heard about us at Smackdown, so I guess advertising works. I think we should make “Best Battle Flag” a future Centurion award category.

HMGS/PSW Mini-Mini Wars “Summer Offensive”

Der Kaiser — Sat, 21 May 2011 18:40:52 +0000

Announcing HMGS-PSW Mini-Mini Wars!

SUMMER OFFENSIVE

Its Summer get your friends together and come on down!!!

Get more for your HMGS-PSW dollar(s)and start the summer off right with Mini-Mini Wars, a one-day only HMGS-PSW convention (hence the Mini-Mini Wars name) to be held on Saturday June 25, 2011, at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Anaheim (some of you will know this as the place where the St. Crispin’s Irregulars group meets). The address is:

1127 North Anaheim Bl., Anaheim, CA. 92801.

Print some and send around!!!

Mini-Mini Wars Flyer in PDF

Mini-Mini Wars Flyer in DOC

Summer Offensive Final Events List DOC

Summer Offensive Final Events List in DOC

Why now, why there, and who’s doing this, you ask?

A couple of us, myself (Steve Reid) Skip Gardella, Mark Deliduka, and George Paler thought it would be nice to have a “Mini con Gathering” to start the summer so with the backing and support of HMGS/PSW we have organized our first “Mini- Mini con. June 25th is the first Saturday of summer, so it seems like a good time to hold the first of what will hopefully be a number of one-day cons in different places, in order to make your membership even more valuable and to help us continue to grow. The KoC Hall is a little more centrally-located, and though it’s too small for a weekend-long event, it should be perfect for a smaller, one-day con. Plus it’s affordable for us and it’s got free parking and a kitchen!

Admission will be free to all paid-up HMGS-PSW members, for non-members it will be $10 payable at the door.

Non-members are encouraged to become members and attend all of our events for free of course (hint, hint)! Members can check their membership status by calling 661-816-7991 and re-up by using the “Paypal” feature on our site. http://www.hmgspsw.org/

The usual lunch and dinner fare will be served for the usual $5. Doors will open at 9 AM and games will run from 10 AM to 10 PM. That’s 12 hours of bonus gaming time to kick off the summer!

Regarding the games: There’s room for 7 or 8 games at the KoC Hall, and they’ll have to fit on 5′ x 8′ or 5′ x 12′ tables. The plan is to set up the games at 9 AM and run each game more than once, allowing players to try multiple games and allowing GMs to take a break and play in someone else’s game for awhile. To make things easy, we’re not going to have multiple sessions – the games will set up and stay set up all day long, so don’t be shy, try something you haven’t played before! Pretty cool, huh? We’ve got a few games lined up already so we only need a couple more, but preference will be for games that last 2-3 hours and we’re going to try to keep it to historical games. Contact info is below if you’re interested in running a game (we don’t have any ancients, Napoleonic, FoW, or naval games yet) but please keep it on the smaller side and be prepared to run the game more than once.

Mini-Mini Wars Flyer in PDF

We’re also going to have a “Painting Clinic” run by member Mark. Whether you’re new to the hobby and looking to learn “how-to” or an old hand looking for some new tricks, let Mark show you that it’s much easier than you think to paint some good-looking figures in a short amount of time. We really NEED some of you to donate some of the figures you have sitting around that you’ll never get to painting to make this happen though. See the contact info below if you can donate a few figures; the goal is that everyone participating (especially our newer members) can take the figures home after Mark demonstrates that painting miniatures doesn’t have to be intimidating.

The other thing we REALLY need is some volunteers to help set up and take down the tables and chairs, some kitchen help, some help to man the desk (checking for membership cards, etc.), and a few more games. To ease the work load from our already over-burdened officers Steve Reid has been tasked to coordinate the volunteers and help with all of the arrangements. If you have any questions about the games, if you can run a game, if you can donate some miniatures for the painting clinic, IF YOU CAN VOLUNTEER TO HELP, or if you just want to say “Hey, it’s great that we’re having a one-day con in Anaheim, I’ll be there”, PLEASE contact me, Steve Reid at:

frog@graphicpenguin.com

or by phone at (818) 951-1350.

Summer Offensive Flyer PDF

One last thing: If you want to come but live far enough away to not want to drive, there is an Amtrak station in Anaheim not too far from the KoC Hall. Check the train schedule at:

http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/HomePage

and get your tickets. If you can let us know when you’ll be arriving and departing at least one week ahead of the con we’ll make sure someone picks you up and gets you back to the station in time to catch your train. Just south of the hall at the 5 Freeway is the Disneyland bus terminal. Buses from all over pull in there all through the day and their traffic often increases on the weekend. From there a quick trip north on the 43 Bus line on Harbor Blvd. and you are just a short walk away from the hall.

That’s it fellow gamers!

Mini-Mini Wars

Sat. June 25, 2011 10 AM – 10 PM

Knights of Columbus Hall, 1127 North Anaheim Bl., Anaheim, CA.

Come on out, bring a friend, and play some games! Let’s make the first of our one-day cons a big success!

Steve Reid

Frank Patterson and his able assistant work on the Tarawa airfield. The island is set up with a lot of perimeter detail as American intelligence had the clearest picture of those defenses. As the Marines proceed inland, they are going to find the depth of the Japanese defenses.

As the battle rages, an American minesweeper braves enemy gunfire and coral reefs to support the pinned down Marines.

The Battle of Borodino

Harmon — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 22:00:44 +0000

The Members of St. Crispin’s Irregulars HMGS/PSW Demo Team managed to transport over 1000 miniature soldiers and a large terrain layout to replay the Battle of Borodino. Battle commenced at 11:00 AM at The Muzeo in Anaheim and over the course of the day the French were able to systematically reduce the Russian artillery while threatening the Russian left flank. The Russians held the bridge leading into Moscow despite losing their artillery support. In desperation, ‘Kutuzov’ ordered a charge against the French guns threatening his left flank. The French battery held ground and sent a devastating volley downrange, thoroughly breaking the Russian cavalry division and sending them running. As night fell over the battlefield the situation was still a bit in doubt with the French apparently still having the upper hand, but the stubborn Russian defense was still in place.
Napoleon’s invasion of Russia, the Battle of Borodino (Bah-Rha-Dee-Nuh) Sept. 7th, 1812 just outside the gates of Moscow – should have called it the battle for Moscow, but then the Russians lost the battle and yielded the city (of a thousand churches) to Napoleon – only for him to find it empty and burning – and with no food, and winter fast approaching – he was forced to withdraw. We all know how that turned out.
One should read the novel or watch the movie “WAR and PEACE” and listen to Tchaicovski’s 1812 Overture both pieces dealing specifically with this conflict.
The game was run at Harmon Ward’s Hobby Day as a dry run for the Anaheim Muzeo exhibit the following day.
The fine collection of miniatures used belong to Rod Galati with the Russians (and a growing French Army) and his brother RJ with the Brits, Allies and more French. The troops are 28mm: mostly Front Rank, Elite, some Old Glory, Conniesseur and even Hinchcliffe. The rules used were Fire and Maneuver. The superb “Redoubts” and Trees were built by Ray of Art of War Terrain. We are lucky to have such a fine terrain maker in our backyard – shout out for Ray and his Crew. Good work to the demo team led by Harmon, Rod, Mark, Frank, Rick and new member Alex (as Napoleon quipped about a young soldier’s gallant action “he carries a Marshall’s Baton in his knapsack.”). Thanks to the Muzeo for letting us stage our battle in a gallery of Russian artworks. Many museum visitors appreciated our display and mentioned this to the museum staff.

New Members!

Harmon — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 01:39:15 +0000

At Hobby Night in Anaheim the St. Crispin’s Irregulars were having a miniature blast in 28mm when a new guy approached the table. He started asking questions about the scale, rules and historical era. Elan had been to the hall many times for role playing games and boardgames but he has always found the study of history to be his favorite subject. So with “The Longest Day” playing on the big screen our Demo Team signed him up and collect his dues. So say “Hello” to Elan Goldmann at our next convention and welcome him aboard. At the following Hobby Day we met John Laughlin. He was a member when he lived in the Sacremento area and was happy to find us active here in the Southland.

Elan joins the St. Crispin's Irregulars band of the HMGS/PSW

Facebook and Gaming

M.Denny — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 17:56:17 +0000

One of the great things about social media is getting back in touch with old friends — including wargaming friends. The Bengal Club recently created a page on Facebook to report our games, invite members to events, and basically keep in touch. We’ve also created a FB page for HMGS/PSW, and hopefully we’ll soon be able to automatically update it from this site.

If your club has a Facebook page, share it with the rest of HMGS either by posting it to the Yahoo list or commenting on this post — let’s expand our internet community!

Here’s the Bengal Club page

Here’s the HMGSPSW page

Spotted at Ft. Mac

M.Denny — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 20:42:05 +0000

John Bull and Uncle Sam of The Bengal Club

Assault on St Crispins

Der Kaiser — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 19:09:14 +0000

Steve Gausche running Mobile Infantry gets a laugh from "Bug" commander Mark Deliduka

Hi all,

Last Saturday the monthly gathering of the St Crispens irregulars (funny since they are a very regular group) was attended by Steve Gausche and myself along with a promised assault by “the Bugs”

I had been down for a visit to the Orange County St Crispens group that meets at the Knights of Columbus hall every second Saturday several times before and had found that several gamers there were building Starship Troopers miniatures and had an interest in playing. Even though it is not a real historical game or falls under the category of “History that hasn’t happened yet, I also had a keen interest in the game and had been collecting and painting the miniatures for years. I had also run it as a game at an HMGS/PSW event a year or so ago. Chris convinced me to come down and run it at St Crispens. Steve and I arrived around noon and had a small little tune up game before running one of the two games latter that evening. Their were two game run that evening with 9 players at two tables. Lots of fun was had by all.

The dreaded "Tanker" bug! This one however got a face full of flamer as soon as it appeared.

Starship Troopers is a game that is no longer produced but figures and rules can be found with relative ease on the internet as well as by frequenting model shows. It’s a pretty fast and Bloody game. Both our games were well balanced and went down to the last figures standing with the Bugs and the Mobile infantry both taking a win and a loss.

Death from above! Hopper Bugs decend unto the hard pressed Mobile infantry.

St Crispins is a great venue used by both historical and non-historical gamers as well as board gamers, and modelers. There are 16 tables and one could find everything from ancients to Star Trek being played. Food is cooked and served twice a day, lunch and dinner for a small charge and its pretty darn good! There is a predominance of HMGS/PSW members in the core group here and most of the running of the event is done by HMGS/PSW members.

HMGS/PSW Vice President Harmon Ward talks about St Crispins!

Hobby Day, 12th June

gregoryk — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 05:35:46 +0000

Here is a link to pictures from the last Hobby Day, 12 June, at St Crispin’s.

Civil War Weekend in Anaheim

Harmon — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 14:55:15 +0000

The Civil War Weekend was another great outing for St. Crispin’s Irregulars Demo Team. RJ Galati’s First Day of Gettysburg table was laid out early on Saturday, March 20th and the 28mm Redoubt miniatures were set up in Regiments on the reinforcement tables. At about 10:30 or so significant numbers of visitors started to arrive and they were captivated by the look of the table and the quality of the presentation. After the reenactment battle at 11:00 the visitors and Cadets ran from the parade ground to take their sides on the miniature battlefield. There were over 16 players crowded around the table at one time. We drew so many onlookers that one of Harmon’s friends who attended the event didn’t find our tent. He was looking for a miniature battlefield and he couldn’t see our 6′x12′ table because of all of the people crowded around it. The kids learned the “Fire and Maneuver” rules quickly and some of them stuck to the battle turn after turn, determined to be victorious. We handed out dozens of newsletters and business cards and collected two more pages of email addresses for our electronic advertising efforts. It is not every day that you get a chance to play a Civil War game to the sound of the artillery, the smell of gunpowder, with President Lincoln looking on and live period music playing in the background. When you do though, it is a very good day. During the Saturday battle the dynamic diorama turned out almost exactly like the actual historical battle with Ewell’s corps breaking the Union 11th Corps and sending them running back through the town of Gettysburg. On the second day, the Union held with the Union First Corps sending one division of Confederates running while the 11th Corps stopped Ewell on the flank.
Thanks to our Demo Team members RJ Galati, Mark Deliduka, Frank Patterson, John Knox, Tim Knapp and Harmon Ward for their outstanding efforts in putting on a great miniature wargame demonstration. Photo by Rod Galati.

The Chino Airport Warbirds Airshow will be a weekend event just like this, only ten times bigger. I would estimate that we will need a minimum of 8 people in the booth at all times to run games and answer questions, and it is a longer day. If you are a Historical Miniature Game Society member and you are interested in working the booth at this upcoming event, please contact President Bill Witthans or Vice President Harmon Ward. There are still a few legal details to iron out before our attendance can be confirmed, but the Air Show draws over 10,000 visitors and that will require a lot more than 5 volunteers in the booth.

St. Catherine’s Civil War Weekend Link

Chino Airport Airshow Link