FROM TINY ACORNS...

 Projects grow into giant oaks, and so it goes with my Toy Soldiers army. Back around 2009, on a whim, I decided to pick up some of the Eurika Toy Town figures with the idea of putting on a Christmas game. This was a small project as I was only getting about 130 total figures to represent both sides. I painted them up, dug out some simple rules, I think it was Sword and the Flame, and played a few games using a rug, books, and as I recall even a small Christmas tree. That simple project turned into something a bit bigger. I added a few more figures, about double, wrote some simple rules, and put on some more games and to my surprise people really liked this. I had also discovered I really enjoyed putting together these armies, especially coming up with a little background story for each army and why they fought, and oddly, I really liked painting them. I find I keep adding more, continue to tweak the rules, and run games...OK you get it. I am obsessive about these figures. Every time I decide enough is enough and go onto other projects, inevitably during the Christmas season I pull them out for an annual game, then my mind drifts into the dangerous spot of thinking, "You know what would be cool?", and below you can see this year's results.   

The Newest Additions Since Christmas.

The 1st Udderwhere Battalion: The Winter Guard.

The 1st Oberhere Hussars. An Important Addition, as This Gives Both Sides an Independent Light Cavalry Brigade. 

Who the Heck are These Guys?

CONTEMPLATING MY NAVEL

With the Holidays finally past I have gotten back to gaming. This year I have already played a couple of games, a WWII Bulge fight and a pair of playtests of the Portable Ironclads Wargame by David Cook, and Bob Cordery. 

The Bulge Battle saw the Germans withdrawing in front of a serious US counter-offensive. My part was the German infantry garrison force of a town, so I mostly sat back and waited for the Americans to come to me. It took to the very end when the US Shermans seeking cover from massed German AT guns and Panthers pulled in behind a set of building for shelter. That was what I had been waiting for. I sprung my ambush and in a hail of panzerfaust and panzerschreck fire destroyed the entire Sherman platoon. It was my moment of glory and the end of the game. Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures. 

The next game was a play test of the new ACW Portable Ironclads Wargame. It pitted four Union vessels against four Confederates. In the first game the Confederates had two ships sunk and two others heavily damaged. The Union lost two ships sunk and the two others moving off into the Gulf which was the objective. The second game saw all the Confederates out of action and the Union having suffered the loss of two ships, with the remaining two seriously damaged. 

Things we learned were that the overall systems worked out, giving a quick game play of about an hour. We felt changes to angles of firing arcs, blocking fire, and the way turning was done needed addressing. Most of this will be done by having ships occupy only a single hexagonal. 

There was no attempt to balance the scenario as only results were desired. In future a wide range of ship layouts will be used to increase the challenge of the games. 

The First Games Final Moments. USS Monitor, USS Benton, CSS Tennesse all in a Sinking State. CSS Virginia has Already Gone Under. The US Monitors Milwaukee with Twin Turrets and Ozark are Headed for the Open Gulf. 

The Second Games Opening Moments. Union Fast Monitors Lead the Way, While This Time the Confederates Steam Forward with the Spar Torpedo Armed Richmond in Front. 

Second Game with the Richmond Beached. Shortly After This the Monitor, Benton and all the Rest of the Confederate Fleet will be on the Bottom. The Milwaukee will be Heavily Damage, with Only the Ozark Being in Fighting Trim. Ramming and Gunfire was the Way of This Battle