The campaign conducted by Maj. Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley in the spring of 1862 is considered one of the most brilliant in United States, if not world, military history. Vastly outnumbered, and at times, facing three Union armies, Jackson managed in less than three months to march his Army of the Valley hundreds of miles and fight a series of engagements (including five pitched battles) in a masterpiece of military art that ultimately created a grand diversion which tied up thousands of Union troops threatening Richmond.

For many years I have been building up this 20mm plastic army and with the help of John G who painted Ashby’s cavalry they are finally all painted and based.

My apologies for the quality of the video, but I did not have the appropriate software to convert from an old version of powerpoint to video without creating a whole new “movie maker” one. In the end I just used my phone to video straight from the PC monitor.

Not on display, but also completed, is Stuart’s 2nd Brigade of Ewells Division consisting of the Ist Maryland Infantry Regiment, the 44th Virginia Regiment, the 52nd Virginia Regiment, and the 58th Virginia Regiment, together with another battery of artillery.

I have included all of the photos below of the units in the video to do them more justice.

Maj. Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson

Maj. Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson

Maj. Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson

Maj. Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson

Brigadier General Charles Sidney Winder’s First Brigade

Brigadier General Charles Sidney Winder

“Officers and men of the First Brigade, I am not here to make a speech but simply to say farewell. I first met you at Harper’s Ferry in the commencement of the war, and I cannot take leave of you without giving expression to my admiration of your conduct from that day to this, whether on the march, in the bivouac, the tented field, or on the bloody plains of Manassas, where you gained the well-deserved reputation of having decided the fate of the battle.

Throughout the broad extent of country over which you have marched, by your respect for the rights and property of citizens, you have shown that you were soldiers not only to defend, but able and willing both to defend and protect. You have already gained a brilliant and deservedly high reputation, throughout the army and the whole Confederacy, and I trust in the future by your own deeds on the field, and by the assistance of the same Kind Providence who has heretofore favored our cause that you will gain more victories, and add additional lustre to the reputation you now enjoy. You have already gained a proud position in the history of this our second War of Independence. I shall look with great anxiety to your future movements, and I turst whenever I shall hear of the First Brigade on the field of battle it will be of still nobler deeds achieved and higher reputation won.

In the army of the Shenandoah, you were the First Brigade; in the army of the Potomac, you were the First Brigade; in the second corps of this army, you are the First Brigade; you are the First Brigade in the affections of your General; and I hope by your future deeds and bearing you will be handed down to posterity as the First Brigade in our second War of Independence. Farewell!”

33rd Virginia Infantry Regiment

27th Virginia Infantry Regiment

2nd Virginia Infantry Regiment

4th Virginia Infantry Regiment

5th Virginia Infantry Regiment

Rockbridge Artillery

Lt colonel Turner Ashby’s 7th Virginian Cavalry

Lt colonel Turner Ashby (the Black Knight)

Of the many charismatic and colorful leaders produced by the War Between the States, none shine brighter than Turner Ashby. Raised in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, an area noted for its superb horses and accomplished riders, he became at an early age an expert rider and trainer of horses. Ashby was well known for winning many riding tournaments in Virginia. In these contests he often used the title, Knight of the Black Prince. It was said that during the war he rode the two best horses of the army, one was white and the other black. The Black Knight of the Confederacy led his dashing command through the mountains and valleys of Virginia spreading havoc among the invading Union forces.

7th Virginia Cavalry Mounted

7th Virginia Cavalry Mounted

7th Virginia Cavalry Dismounted

7th Virginia Cavalry Dismounted

Chew’s Horse Artillery

Colonel John A. Campbell’s Second Brigade

Colonel John A. Campbell

1st Virginia Regular Battalion

21st Virginia Infantry Regiment

42nd Virginia Infantry Regiment

48th Virginia Infantry Regiment

Winchester Virginia Artillery

Brigadier General William Booth Taliaferro’s Third Brigade

Brigadier General William Booth Taliaferro

10th Virginia Infantry Regiment

10th Virginia Infantry Regiment

23rd Virginia Infantry Regiment

37th Virginia Infantry Regiment

Charlottesville Virginia Artillery

I am very pleased to have another long term project finally finished. I am looking forward to more ACW battles where the Virginian Gazette can continue to boast about Jackson’s exploits.

In 1815 there were three Pomeranian Landwher regiments. Each wore the Dark blue Litevka, white collar s and cuffs and yellow buttons.

The Praetorian Guard regiments of the Astra Militarum are raised from the world of Praetoria. Praetoria is a heavily populated Hive World that lies in a star system close to the Imperial segmentum naval base at Bakka in the Segmentum Tempestus.

Command Squad and Heavy Weapons Squad

Command Squad

Lieutenant

Ensign

Bugler

Trooper with flamer

Trooper

The overpopulated hive cities of Praetoria are renowned for their squalor and degradation, and produce some of the toughest gangers on any of the Hive Worlds in the Imperium.

Heavy Weapons Squad

This vast population works as little more than slave-labour in the huge manufactoria complexes of Praetoria, producing the goods that have made the planet (and its rulers) among the richest in the Imperium of Man, with a huge fleet of merchant voidcraft that trade all over the segmentum and beyond.

2 Troopers with Heavy Bolter

2 Troopers with Autocannon

2 Troopers with Mortar

The troops that he sent were the veterans of the campaign against the Drukhari, the XXIV^th Praetorian Guard. The Praetorian XXIV^th had lived up well to the traditions of the fighting reputation of their homeworld, but had suffered very heavy casualties in so doing. Of the 1,500 troops that had left Praetoria, only about 300 now remained. More importantly, all of the regiment’s senior officers had been killed. The most senior officer left alive, and acting commander of the regiment, was 21-year-old Captain Gliene of C Company. To overcome these deficiencies for the campaign against Warlord Bullgarg, the XXIV^th was hastily reinforced w

Casualty Figures/wound markers

Casualty Figures/wound marker (1)

Casualty Figures/wound marker (2)

Casualty Figures/wound marker (3)

Casualty Figures/wound marker (4)

The Landwehr were militia formed from teenagers through to men in their forties. They were plucked from their fields, shops and offices and enrolled into the Prussian military machine to enlarge the forces that could finally depose Napoleon, the Tyrant of Europe. Prussia was a small State but her armies were well-trained and burning to avenge their past defeats.

The Landwehr consisted of over sixty battalions and were equipped and trained as time and money allowed. A cheap but warm coat, comfortable cap and a musket were considered uniform enough to get thousands of troops out into the field for the restricted Prussian army of the time.

The Landwehr fought bravely in the later wars of the period, fighting hard in the 1813 campaigns and ultimately at the climax of the Hundred Days campaign that was Ligny and Waterloo.

Ill-equipped and half-trained they may have been, but after a few months hard fighting they went on to fight with determination alongside their brothers in the Prussian Line regiments.

The infantry held an inferior position and were of little or no consideration. It consisted of a multitude of people assembled together without regard to rank or file. There were swordsmen, gunmen, archers, matchlock men and guards. Some were armed with spears, and even though disciplined, could not be relied upon.

Mughal Indian Infantry

In short, the infantry were more a rabble of half-armed men than anything else, being chiefly levies brought into the field by petty zamindars, or men belonging to the jungle tribes. Any Mahomedan or Rajput who respected himself, managed somehow or other to provide himself with a mount and obtained enrolment as a cavalry soldier.

Mughal Indian Infantry

The high figures for Infantry in each district and province, shown in the historical records can only be accepted under considerable reservation. These numbers probably represent the men called on to render strictly local duty, and they must have consisted almost entirely of villagers armed with long pikes, or swords and shields, perhaps even with only an iron-bound bamboo staff.

Mughal Indian Infantry

Mughal Indian Light Infantry Archers

Mughal Indian Light Infantry Matchlockmen

Mughal Indian Light Infantry Spearmen

Mughal Indian Medium Infantry Archers

In the later years of Mughal empire, a class of troops known as Alighol wuld seem to have been the equivalent of the ghazis from the Afghan frontier. These were a sort of chosen light infantry of the Rohilla Patans. Sometimes the term appears to be applied to other troops supposed to be used generally for desperate service.

Mughal Indian Light Medium Infantry Archers

Mughal Indian Light Medium Infantry Archers

In 1799, the Jaipur Rajah had a body-guard of sixteen hundred men, armed with matchlocks and sabres, who were called the silah-posh, no doubt from their being clad in armour.

Mughal Indian Close Order Matchlockmen

Mughal Indian Light Medium Spearmen

Mughal Indian Close Order Spearmen

Farangi

Just Kidding!

These were Europeans serving in the capacity of common soldiers. They were probably for the most part native Christians, or Portuguese, either from Goa, or from the colonies of that nation settled about the mouth of the Ganges and Brahmputra. There may have been among them some fugitive sailors from ships lying at Surat or Cambay. More usually, however, such men entered the artillery. In 1739 there were still Franks in the Mughal service. They were all Frenchmen, either attached to the artillery or practicing as surgeons, bone-setters, or physicians.

The typical Landwehr uniform was designed for function and serviceability, not show. The outfit was much plainer than the finery worn by most regular troops but were easily manufactured in the numbers necessary to outfit tens of thousands.

They also wore captured French and purchased British items. “Their uniforms had to be provided by the municipalities, which led to many unfortunates marching off to war in terribly poor quality clothing which quickly fell apart.

They had only one pair of shoes, which often fit badly and were frequently torn off in deep mud, leaving many soldiers barefoot for much of the campaign.” (Digby-Smith, – p 36)

Generally the Landwehr infantry wore either black or dark blue Litevka coat with grey or white trousers. The collar and cuffs were in the provincial colour.

his is a myth that the Landwehr was never used in skirmish order. They were used as skirmishers if only the tactical situation required it. On few occasions even entire battalions were employed in such formation.

In 1813 at Hagelberg the full IV Battalion of 3rd Kurmark Landwehr deployed into skirmish formation and advanced forward together with two other battalion formed in columns screened by their own skirmishers.

In the end of battle approx. 300 Prussian skirmishers pursued 2 battalions of French infantry (total 1.000 men). These skirmishers were joined by Cossacks and Russian guns and the French halted and surrendered, but generally the Landwehr was poorly trained and armed and the generals prefered other troops in skirmish role.

With the figures done it was now time to look at what terrain I had to play on. Unfortunately I have no futuristic terrain with the exception of a few 40k buildings.

The first decision was do I repeat a Sci-Fi version of Gotham Grease and Gunk with its 3D board, roads, and footpaths or do I use a mouse mat. I already have boards for Gotham and the Wild West and storage was becoming a problem so I decided on the mouse mat base.

I have bought a few mats from Deep Cut Studios and decided on this 1200mm X 1200mm one which will fit nicely with the red and black of the Nomad figures.

The feel I was after was a Gothic post apocalyptic one, but one that would be versatile across a number of game systems. I already have enough scatter terrain and a number of smaller pieces that will fit so it was really just looking at what buildings were available. I have cube based storage systems for both household goods and wargaming terrain so it needed to be tough to withstand being thrown in on top of one another so mdf. buildings seemed logical.

I use TTCombat and Knights of Dice for my mdf buildings, both of which have lots of Gothic and Hive buildings to choose from. Knights of Dice quality tends to be superior quality but are more complex to put together and are more expensive. TTCombat have less detail use more greyboard, but are simpler models.

I ended up with buying the packets of brick scatter from Knights of Dice and the rest from TTCombat. In the past I have just cut up plastic sprues for the scatter but I just cannot be bothered with such “ship” these days.

About fifteen years ago I had built a modular Gothic terrain table to use at the Arcanacon conference every year. This consisted of 24 only 300mm squares Unfortunately I sold it and the blighter only gave me the deposit and did not send the rest – just can’t trust 40k gamers can you! Some pics below:

These were made out of cardboard and foam board but were too fragile and difficult to store. Still it is one of those many hobby sales that I have lived to regret.

I will create the same sort of effect with the mdf terrain. The first that I chose was some pieces to provide some texture to the opens spaces on the board. Four of these should suffice.

My normal table is size 7 feet X 4.5 feet so I wanted enough terrain to cover this although only about half would be used at any one time for Infinity games. Skirmish games need lots of terrain so any excess will not go astray.

The first piece was a landing pad that could go in the centre of the table to provide enough cover without dominating the table.

Next I bought a variety of Gothic style building sets that I will base and provide a desolated post apocalyptic look like I had with the city-scape years ago.

I just need to find a few pieces of futuristic furniture and accoutrements to place in the ruined buildings to provide that “extra touch” of “realism”. Fortunately TTCombat has a range of resin furniture that is suitable.

I will provide some updates as we go along. At the moment I just have to wait for the pieces to arrive. I think I have a few things to fill in my time while that happens!

As indicated in a previous post he Hanseatic Legion was a military unit, first formed of a group of citizens from Hamburg. They had met in 1813 on the instigation of General Friedrich Karl von Tettenborn, in order to fight in the War of the Sixth Coalition. This association of volunteers was joined immediately by volunteers from Hamburg’s Hanseatic sister cities Bremen and Lübeck.

The performance of the Landwehr in combat varied. They stampeded on several occassions and also had some splendid actions. Digby-Smith writes: “The Prussian Landwehr received their baptism of fire at Lowenberg. The Schweidnitz battaalion braved canister fire and threw the enemy back at the point of the bayonet.

They were only taken out of the line when they ran out of ammunition, and when they marched past Yorck he had his line regiments oresent arms to them. Blucher wrote: ‘At first it was only so-so with the Landwehr battalions, but now that they’ve had a good taste of powder, they’re as good as the line battalions.’

Napoleon, however, had a very different opinnion of them. When he saw some captured Landwehr, he wrote: ‘The enemy infantry is absolutely wretched; this encourages me.” (Digby-Smith, – pp 18-19)

In 1815 in the battle of Ligny, the II Btn. of 1.Westphalian Landwehr formed square on top of a hill near Brye. The Landwehr was charged three times by French cuirassiers and heavy cavalry of Old Guard. Each time the Landwehr fired volley and the French retired with casualties.

I have started with the really good stuff because the “other” “good stuff” I have some gripes with. One minor and the other major.

A Guru with gripes? Whodah thought…………….no surprise for those who know this demanding, grumpy guru.

Zombicide Second Edition

I had forgotten about this first “goody” as it is one I had put in an advance order for way back at the start of this year, so it was a surprise for it to turn up at the Post Office.

Zombicide 2nd Edition is a vast improvement on previous iterations and the need for increased strategy and tactics is required but it is still basically a very much luck-based game. That said, this edition takes an already solid game and tightens all the screws, creating a fast-paced, fun, nail-biting experience that you will not be able to put down

All of the fiddles and clumsiness of the first edition seem to have been improved upon and it is certainly a modern “Dungeon Crawl” game that should appeal

The figure quality has improved on what were already good sculpts, and this time includes children to act as “zombie bait” for the ghouls amongst you. Children have one less wound but have skills that allow them to sneak between a horde of zombies. T

The Washington ZC expansion adds more scenarios, more figures, including the President, and night and day rules.

More than eighty survivors and zombies to paint, but that’s the plus, isn’t it.

Deep Cut Studio’s gaming mat

Deep-Cut Studios customer service and quality cannot be questioned. This arrived in Oz from Europe in about a week. The details are fantastic as always and this mat is tied to the Nomad faction with its very distinctive look. If you are looking at gaming mats you just cannot go past these guys.

Warpath Plague Faction

The Mantic Warpath Plague faction minis are just great. Notice a theme here? The models are not exclusive to the faction but do have “extra bits” to make them look suitably disease ridden.

The models in this box set are all complex multi-part kits and you would expect assembly instructions to be included, or at least able to download them from their website, but it seems none are available. I was only buying these to finish of my “Plague Faction”, and will now have to spend far more time on them than I had planned. Despite this they have made a great Covid-19 project!

Kongo Kickstarter

Way back in 2017 I signed up for a Kongo Kickstarter from Acheson Creations. I thought there would be little risk as I had bought from them successfully before.

I have to say that within the hobby you are generally able to purchase quite freely with very little risk, but be careful as sometimes you might just get caught.

At the temple we say “trust needs to be earned but so does your money” – Guru PIG

After nearly four years since the pledge level was successful in December 2017, and nearly three years later than the expected completion date, yesterday I received almost all of what was outstanding. I say almost because there is at least one more outstanding figure to come.

Whilst I am extremely happy to have received more of my original purchase but three years late……….really!

This is a basic model, suitably large with the crew in very static poses.

These drums and pots are pretty standard miniatures.

This one is still outstanding.

I just love brand new shiny stuff, don’t you?

With lock down in Melbourne continuing for at least another fortnight and likely to go much longer Steve and I decided to try another game system on zoom. After the success of our What A Tanker game last Friday we decided to try another one of our favourites, Rebels and Patriots. The rules needed some tweaking in order to provide the “fog-of-war” and to make the game work.

The tabletop providing lots of cover but also some key lines of sight. Controlling these is key to winning the scenario. The Rangers were able to do this.

Here is what we decided to start with:

Scenario:

You are a leader of a small force of rangers charged with dispersing a band of aggressive Indians who are terrorising local farmers Yo need to seek and destroy at least two war-bands without losing more than 25% causalities (in points not units). You have been told the indians are camped by a small stream some distance away but you do not have a map of the locale.

You have the following at your disposal:

• Leader – character trait – “Blessed” = +1 to all leader casualty test rolls.
• 2 group of six rangers (Small units of  Aggressive Veteran Light Infantry @8 pts each)
• 2 units of 6 Mohawk skirmishers (veteran Skirmishers @4pts each)

The Rangers at the start of the game.

The disposition of troops was an umpire decision but was reasonable. As umpire you are not trying to make the game harder for players but more enjoyable.

Special rules:

The leader and his bodyguards are a separate unit that can only be targeted if the enemy is within 12″. He fights like a ranger unit but with half dice but does not shoot.

All units must be given an order at the start of the game.

1. Move in X direction and attack any enemy in sight
2. Move in X direction and skirmish with any enemy
3. Move to X (must be in line of sight of commander and unit) and hold/shoot/skirmish

Order can only be changed if leader within 12″ and within line of sight.

When ranger units are shot at by enemy is in cover they can only be seen if the leader is in line of sight of the enemy, or if they roll above the range shot at from with 2D6.

To date the Indians have only operated in small groups and you are unaware of any large units taking the field.

Indian rules:

The Indians are not interested in a “stand up fight” preferring to harass the enemy and only prepared to fight in close combat when their opponents are weakened (disordered or broken).

All Indian units will try to move within shooting range of the nearest enemy and skirmish. They will attempt to charge any disordered or broken enemy within line of sight.

The Indians local knowledge means the location of all ranger units at any time are known to them (umpires helicopter view.

Rangers controlling the “sight lines”.

There were a couple of learnings from the exercise.

Firstly, we believe that most skirmish style games or games with a small number of small units would work well, and in fact probably better than over the tabletop as the helicopter view is eliminated.

What the Rangers could see. Often it was only trees!

Secondly, Rebels and Patriots rules and French Indian War scenarios with its dense terrain would work well. The larger FIW battles that were more like a sma Seven Years War game with their linear tactics probably less well.

The 4′ X 4′ table and 4 units per side worked well and gave a quick game.

The rangers spot Indians moving in the trees up river

The changes to the rules with “what the leader can see” was an excellent concept and meant that to be successful you needed to keep him within range and line-of-sight of all his units.

The “umpire run” opponent moving within strict parameters was easy to run for the umpire but does depend on coming up with realistic scenarios and guidelines that suited the umpire driven forces. Those we provided for the Indian contingent proved quite realisitic.

The Indians get behind the Ranger’s Mohawk allies but receive a single casualty and decide to run off without firing a shot.

The game itself was fun with some dice outliers creating the only anomalies, but these were rules specific that could have just as easily occurred in any face-to-face game. As usual the game outcome was on a knife edge with first the Rangers teetering before the Indians finally had enough and fled.

Mohawk allies lose three casualties in the first shot of the game (Indians rolled nine 5’s or 6’s with their 12 dice) causing them to flee. As their General was in line-of-sight they were able to relay and re-join the battle line towards the end of the game.

Steve and I will try it again, this time with less terrain, larger units and the Indians being player driven to see if we can find any other bugs to iron out before taking it to the rest of our “PIG posse”.

Indians using cover to prevent more casualties.