Gentlemen Pensioners post-Phalanx ACW game

I was lucky enough to be invited to join the Gentlemen Pensioners ACW wargame the day after the St Helens Phalanx show.  Rules used were Fire and Fury, which seems a good set of rules, easy to pick up the basics (I'd never played them before).  The table was laid out as shown - the Yankees coming on from the right hand table edge and the nearest table edge to the right of the road.  The Rebels were allowed to deploy their main force as far as the road, although cavalry units could deploy further forwards.

The Yankee objective was the river port town in the far left hand corner of the photo, particularly the Rebel artillery battery and redoubt, which was proving particularly troubling to Yankee riverine units attempting to pass by.

The length of the table looking towards the Union deployment zones at the far end and right hand table edge as far as the first road.

Most of the days actions would take place around the first lateral road.

Rebel cavalry forming a speedbump around the farm and adjoining woodland.

The main Rebel lines, a forward screen lines the lateral road, supported by artillery batteries in redoubts on the two hill.  Behind these are the main trench lines.  Confederate reserves will deploy from the town to the right.

Confederate defence in depth - a forward line of skirmishing cavalry, a line of Confederate infantry supported by artillery redoubts, and a final defence line of entrenched infantry and artillery.

My own personal command, an infantry brigade and two artillery batteries.

The Union advanced rapidly, attempting to sweep aside the Reb cavalry screen, with varying success.  Some truly abysmal Rebel artillery fire causes them not a problem.

On the Rebel right at the top of the photo, Union troops are pushing back the thinly held Rebel line through the trees and the Rebs are starting to give ground.  On the Rebel left and centre, the Union are struggling to cope with Reb cavalry charges - real death or glory stuff as one might expect, and their own command and control, which sees the Union right advancing in a very ponderous manner.

My brigade are beginning to get a bit jittery - at least the sound of the guns is having a soothing effect as they imagine the devastation being caused - if only they knew!

The Union right get within musket range of the Rebs first line and one brave unit attempts to push the large Reb unit back onto the hill.

They are thrown back in disarray, thanks largely to enfilade fire from a unit which swung around from the other side of the road.  However, the Union centre have pushed the Rebs back from the hill in the distance.  Time for the Rebs to pull back to their main line, or have they left it too late?

While the guns cover the retreat, Reb infantry start to pull back towards the trenches, but not before the small unit on the Reb left flank is wiped out in hand to hand combat.

Even the guns pull back as the infantry continue to give ground, but they should be able to add some extra muscle to the main trench line.

Sadly, that's where Will and I had to leave the game and head home.  I'm not sure whether there were any more turns played after we left, if I can find anymore reports, I'll add some links to those.  Thanks to Steve for hosting and Dave for coming up with the scenario, most of the troops and terrain, as well as the players for such a fun days gaming.

Dave's report of the game from the opposite flank and Union perspective https://wargameamateur.blogspot.com/2019/07/gentleman-pensioners-agm-game.html



Thanks for looking.

20mm MDF buildings

I picked up these two mdf building kits at Britcon in Manchester last year.  Relatively straightforward to put together, although there were no instructions and I couldn't remember who sold them, so couldn't check online for instructions.  Still, they went together well and painted up nicely - I've gone with a chocolate box appearance, rather than making them too grubby and war torn.  I also didn't want to spend too much time on them adding extra realism - if I wanted to spend that amount of time, I'd have made a framework from foam board and added the extra touches to that - these were quick and relatively cheap to add some buildings to the available mix.  Each one was built and sized with dilute PVA glue in an evening, left to dry overnight, and painted the next day.


First up, the Boulangerie from the front.

And from the back.

The other building was a straight forward town house, front view.

Back view.

Both buildings.

These make nice additions to my 20mm buildings collection, alongside an Airfix church, brick-built terraced house and factory unit.  I shall look out for some more to add a bit of variety and increase the number of built up areas I can include on the tabletop.


As ever, thanks for looking.

20mm Zvezda PAK40

I've had this model of the PAK40 from Zvezda assembled and undercoated on the painting table for a couple of months.  I was in two minds whether to go with the crew figures supplied, which are in early war uniforms with jackboots, despite the gun itself not entering service until 1942, or replace them.  However, I already have at least 2 PAK40s from Britannia with crew in camo smocks and the crew figures from Zvezda are excellent, so I decided to go with a version suitable for the period from early 1942 until ankle boots and more basic uniforms became the norm, so very much suitable for mid-war.


Side on view - the apparent downward slope on the barrel is caused by warping of the plastic box lid that the model is sitting on.

The business end.  Static grass only recently applied and I've not yet blown the surplus off the front of the gun.

Oblique view from the front showing how the figures rest on the trails of the gun.

View from the rear, crew hunched behind the shield, gun commander spotting over the top of the shield.

Oblique rear view showing the crew in more detail.

The kit was quite simple to complete and clicked together - no glue needed.  The figures also click into the base snugly, so again no need for glue.  The combination of paint and varnish have locked them in place quite securely.


I like the look of this model, although I doubt it's survivability on the battlefield as, in Battlegroup, it will become the focus of quite a lot of attention from artillery, especially if I dig it in, although while the artillery is occupied with this one, any tanks or SPAT should be free to get up to mischief.


Thanks for looking.

15mm Volkssturm platoon

I've been wanting to try out the movement trays from Warbases for some time, so took the opportunity to pick up some examples at the Phalanx show last Saturday.  I had several packs of Peterpig Volkssturm in the stash, so, having worked up a 20mm platoon, thought I'd do the same for the 15s.  These guys are based on pennies.


The whole platoon, command of 4, 3 sections of 8 and an MG34 team of 3, plus an 8 man recce infantry section and a 6 man Hitlerjugend tank hunter squad as supports.

4 man command squad, youthful Hitlerjugend CO.

1st squad.  8 figures, 2 with Panzerfausts.

2nd squad.  As 1st.

3rd squad.  As 1st.

MG34 team on the move.

8 man infantry recce squad - note the WW1 jagers front left and right, representing policemen.

6 man Hitlerjugend tank hunters - 5 panzerfausts between them.

Some of the Hitler youth in more detail.

Part of the recce squad - includes the Jager officer/policeman.

Volkssturm infantry including kneeling dude with Panzerfaust and kneeling Jager/policeman.

More Volkssturm infantry with armbands so they don't get shot as Francs-tireurs.

MG34 team - you can sense their pain struggling under the heavy loads in a greatcoat.

Now, they need to get dug in and await the Soviet onslaught or board the Opel Blitz bus and take the fight to the enemy.


Thanks for looking.

15mm US SP 105mm artillery

Having been on the receiving end of Will's US SP artillery in recent games of BG Torch, I thought it time to add some to my 15mm US force.  I picked up a couple of Peter Pig T19 105mm howitzer motor gun carriages and a pair of M7 Priests.


The T19s are nice models - I also ordered sets of US artillery crew from Peter Pig, but they only just fit in the crew compartment - unfortunately, the white metal Peterpig now use is very tough and took a lot of filing on the bases to get them to sit right.

They are base coated in Vallejo brown-violet, with black grey for tyres, washed with diluted Agrax Earthshade and dry brushed Iraqi sand.  Then details like tracks and tools are picked out in flat brown, beige brown and black grey.

Crew uniforms are tan earth trousers and either German camo beige or grey green for the tunic.

Nice models - now for a suitable 15mm supply truck as, in BG, they quickly run out of ammo.

The M7 Priests were also great little kits, easy to assemble.  Although the crew compartment is bigger, the interior is quite detailed making it difficult to locate the crew and the hard metal again made it a real chore to grind down to get a decent fit.  However, once done, they look the part.

Similar basic colours to the T19s.

The bulkheads on the bow are quite deeply recessed, making it a challenge to get the decals to sit right, but lots of decal softener at least gave me a chance, although there is more distortion of the stars than I would have liked.

Crew are similar to the T19s, but with US dark green trousers - to reflect later uniform style.

Again, for BG games, I'm going to need a supply truck or two to keep these fed.

I realised that I've not shared pictures of the main US forces yet, so when I put these in the storage box, I'll take some photos of the whole force.


Thanks for looking.

20mm British paratrooper vignettes

I dashed these off quickly over the weekend to clear out the last of my unpainted paratroopers.


There are a pair of surrendering paratrooper stands and a supply stand of drop cannisters being collected and opened.

The drop cannisters - not sure whether to go with green or white for the cannister colour - in the end I went with Russian uniform green.

Surrendering group, the wounded guy showing his captors he can still draw a longbow.

For some reason, I must have bought two sets of these at different shows, so painted the extra set up anyway.

If I'm playing against a British paratrooper player, I can pop these on the table when he fails a morale test and there are no friendly infantry within 10 inches.


Fun to paint and quite quick as I've got the technique worked out and without webbing and weapons, these guys were a doddle.


Thanks for looking.