On May 11, the "Old Geezers" lunch meeting was in full flower, with Eds Sansing, Jim Pitts, Russ Schneider, and Jay Stribling when two of our favorite "extended range" club members joined us.  These were Marc Fluitt from Mandeville Louisiana and Mark Stevens from Columbia Mississippi.  After the lunch, we adjourned to Jay Stribling's home where we played a previously prepared 15mm Crimean War game.

Marc Fluitt took a number of photographs with his massive camera (with that lens it could probably take images of Pluto) and I will post them here.

Russian Infantry battalions advancing across the game table.

I (Jay Stribling) had probably set up too large a game.  Certainly the Russians were too numerous.  Three divisions of infantry, three brigades of cavalry and four(?)  batteries of artillery were too many for the British and French to halt.

Above, a French battalion fires furiously.  The British and French battalions received five fire dice (at full strength) while the Russian columns were allowed only one fire die.  There were several Russian Rifle units that shot with four dice.  The allied generated far more casualties than they took (at least three to one) but there were always more Russian battalions.

In close combat the Russians did as well as the allies… I blame the one-sided game (Imperial Russia's finest day) on the game-master and his inability to balance the thing.  Who was this scoundrel of a game-master?  It was Jay Stribling (ME)!

A British battalion in line.  All the troops are mostly Minifigs.

At one point many MANY years ago, Mark Stevens and I began painting this army using 15mm Peter Laing figures.  Does anyone remember Peter Laing?  We still have a few of those (Small 15m) guys, but all of the figures painted in the last 25 years have been Minifigs.

More Russians with the tiniest portion of the British shown on the right.

This is almost a repeat of an earlier shot.  The figures shown make up perhaps half of one Russian division–they had three divisions.   These were a lot of figures on a 5′x 8′game table.

Jim Pitts, one of the Allied players.

Jim Pitts, Mark Stevens (Brits) and Russ Schneider (French) were the allies.  While Jim and Mark suffered heavily, Russ was just blown (or bayonetted) to nothingness.  Ed Sansing, Marc Fluitt, and Jay Stribling were the Russians.  We had so many troops that traffic control was our major problem.  Not a balanced game.

Russian columns and British line are involved in melee

There are almost no reserves for the allies, but there are many more Russians.  This is the center of the line on about turn four.  In defense of the game-master, he thought that the allied battalions' fire would stop many of the Russian units.

Mark Stevens in a joyful mood (probably just gave the Russians a good volley)

Mark obviously has pulled off a tactical coup here, but still the Russians march on.  The Russian objectives were very near the rear edge of the allied line.  This meant that the allies had very little room to fall back.  They were on higher ground than the enemy so never thought about moving forward to meet the Russians earlier.

Jay Stribling, the fiend of a game-master

We used a variant of the Brom Standard rules which were an ancestor of Larry Broms Chassepot and Needlegun rules for the Franco-Prussian war.  C&N would have worked just a well.  It was a good game however there was muttering about "Jay fixed the game and played on the winning side." In a way that was true, but the assignments to the sides (Russian or Allies) were made randomly long after the game was set up.

I enjoyed it anyway!

It was a newly discovered Earth-type planet whose soil was very compatible to growing Earth-style crops.  It was a find to be claimed by the strongest.  But who would that be—the Draconis Combine or the Federated Suns?

We used the mech forces raised by Sean P.  The rules were "Battle Tech–Alpha Strike" which are a simplified variant of the standard Battle Tech rules.  We like them because they play quicker and are easier to recall from one game to another over a period of months between the two games.

Each nation-state sent a veteran combat company to claim the planet for their own.  Let the battle begin!

A Draconis Combine platoon advances through the high grasses.

Their Draconis commander consults his battle plan as he opens fire on the Federated Suns force opposite him.

The other Draconis platoon advances against a single Federated mech.  Is he separated from his battle comrades?

The other Federated Suns platoon starts to receive fire from the Draconis platoon.

Two Federated mechs (black in center and green behind tall grass) are attacked by three Draconis mechs.  Who will come out on top?

The battle continues as the two Federated mechs stand back to back against the three Draconis mechs.

But one of each falls through close battle damage, leaving the little Federated Enforcer mech facing two Draconis mechs.

In the center of the action, a Federated Black Knight mech (brown camouflage on left) watches his red and black painted Enforcer battle buddy succumbs to the fire of a Draconis No-Dachi mech (red on right).

Later in the battle, one of the Federated platoons has been wiped out.  The two Draconis platoons (right background and foreground) now gang up on the lone Federated platoon (center and left foreground).

Closing in from all directions the Draconis mechs finally blast the remaining Federated mechs into scrap metal, winning the planet for the Draconis Combine!

We had time for a second battle but only one photograph survived.  A Draconis battle team of a Strider (left), Komodo (center–gray), and Jenner (right) mech seek cover before firing on their Federated opponents.  Unfortunately all three of these Draconis mechs were later destroyed by the Federated forces.  But that didn't do the Federated forces any good as they were forced back to their landing zone by the stronger Draconis force.

In the first game, the four players each had a platoon of four mechs.  In the second game each had a half-company of six mechs.

A fun time was had by all even though the Federated commanders couldn't roll hits worth a hoot.  If they needed an 8 or better to hit, then they rolled a 7.  The dice just weren't in their favor.

On Monday, Feb. 15, a small group of the Jackson Gamers assembled at Jim's church hall to give the "To the Strongest!" rules another try.  Jim provided his vintage 15mm early Medieval armies composed of a Norman force based in Southern Italy led by Count Robert "Guiscard" de Hautville and a Byzantine force led by Basil, the Katapan of Langobardia.  We played two games since the rules go very swiftly.  Both were basically encounter battles with each side's forces drawn up in battle array.  The Normans won both games, handily beating up on the Byzantines.

Here are a few photographs showing the action in the second game:

Action in the center with Byzantines on the left rear and Normans on the right front.

One of Jim's Norman cavalry units tries to move but draws an Ace (no activation)! Thus ends Jim's turn before it begins.

Papal allies of the Normans attack the Byzantines in the center with Swabian axemen about to cross a low ridge.  In the background there is confused fighting between Byzantines and Normans around a small village.

Jim's Norman spear units advance against some Byzantine scutatoi.

Normans (on right) press their attacks against the Byzantines.

Jim's forces are mounted on 80mm x 40mm bases originally for the "Vis Bellica" rules which we no longer use.  They've been unused for many moons until "To the Strongest!" rules came along.  Now they can be brought out with each base being a single unit.  Good to see them again.

Troop redeployment

This past Saturday some of the Jackson Gamers assisted Jay, Lord Sterling in moving his vast armies of "little lead men" from his old house in northeast Jackson to his new house in east Brandon.  With four pick-up trucks, one van, two compact SUVs, and Jay's car, the redeployment went almost without a hitch.  The hitch, unfortunately, was the loss of the wargames table frame which came unsecured from Russ' pick-up and smashed itself to splinters near the Pascagoula south-bound on ramp of IH-55.  Luckily no following vehicle was impacted by the flying frame.

Jay would like to thank Larry C., Larry R., Jim P., Sean P., Mark G., Fred D., Phil Y., Russ S., and Jerry A. for their assistance in the troop redeployment.  Without friends like these the armies would still be in transit, one small carload at a time.

Our next game is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 20, at Jay's new house.  We'll see if that actually happens.

Here are some pictures from the first trip's unloading and the resulting stacks of troop and terrain boxes.

Larry R., Russ, and Mark unloading Russ' truck

The start of the stacks in the two-car garage.

Start of one of the stacks on the back porch.

Phil unloading Jim's CUV.

Troop boxes in the back of Mark's pick-up.

The stacks in the garage get bigger.

The rear of the garage stack.

More stacking on the back porch.

And even more stacking on the back porch.

Taking a break before a brief tour of Jay's new house.

On July 18, 2015, we took a trip deep into the Peruvian jungle of the 1930s (courtesy of FiveCore), where Professor Lashwood and his expedition had discovered a legendary lost temple.  When the locals began muttering about sacrilege and threatening to murder the archaeologists, the US embassy sent marines in to escort the expedition to safety.  Little did they know that the Germans have learned of the discovery. They have sent their Zeppelin Troopen in to capture the archaeologists and any artifacts they have discovered.  Larry, Fred and Sean played the Marines, while Phil, Jim and Ed played the Germans.  Photos are courtesy of Jim.  Figures are from Pulp Figures, except for two Marine BARs I borrowed from Jim.

The temple complex, a pyramid looming over the ruined buildings.

The Marines and the Zeppelin Troopen first had to locate the expedition's campsite and the archaeologists.  The Germans set up on the right side of the table, while the Marines set up along the stream feeding into the river on the left and the narrow track toward the far end of the table.  The camp lies near the pyramid, directly behind the rightmost of the two trees near the river in the foreground.

Zeppelin Troopen advance toward the camp.

The early game had quite a few "Scurry" turns for both sides.  The Germans rolled more, allowing them to move into the camp while the Marines were getting into position.  They held onto that advantage throughout the game.

Zeppelin Troopen enter the camp.

On the other side of the pyramid, the Germans take position in cover near the camp as Marines advance.

A Zeppelin Troopen lies dead.

Both sides exchanged gunfire for several turns with little effect.  Then the dice turned hot.  One German was shot dead in the center.

Marines advance while Zeppelin Troopen search the camp.

On the German left, the Marines engaged the Germans taking cover in the brush while other Germans searched the camp.

Marines take fire.

In the center, the Germans returned fire, killing two Marines.  To the left, one of the archaeologists (James Lawson) was found in one of the ruined buildings.

Several turns later…

Lawson took cover in the ruins as the firefight raged around him.  The Marines tried to pull him out, but were cut down by the Germans.  Here they have surrounded the ruin and are ready to assault the last Marine defending the building.

Dan is captured.

In the camp, the Germans captured another of the archaeologists, Dan Davenport.  Marines prepare to rush in and rescue him.

The bloody ruins.

Marines and Germans fought and died around the ruins hiding Lawson.

Lawson captured.

Eventually, the Germans won out and captured Lawson.

Off camera, the Marines found Professor Lashwood and his daughter Sam, and led them to safety.  Unfortunately, they were unable to stand up to the Germans.  They were steadily driven back until the Germans had control of the entire temple complex.

In the end, this was a win for the Germans.  The Marines rescued two members of the expedition, but the Germans captured two others and were able to take their pick of the artifacts and documents in the expedition camp.

Overall the game was a blast to run.  The players seemed to enjoy it as well.  To run it for a group, I gave each player five figures and two activations per turn.  Each side rolled one action die and followed the results accordingly.  After a few turns, play moved quickly and required little assistance from me.  I definitely plan to run it again some time.  And maybe then I'll get to play.