Jackson Gamers

Posts by Author: Bill Hamilton

German Counteroffensive

Using our modified version of the "Memoir 44" boardgame, the Jackson Gamers played a WWII 15mm battle on June 30, 2012 at Jay Stribling's home in Jackson MS.  The Germans were on the offensive and attacked with three forces.  The Americans were on the defensive with three forces also.

The Commander-in-chief on each side had an armor-heavy force, with the Germans having five Panthers and a Tiger (each tank model represented a platoon of 4 or 5 tanks) and three infantry platoons and a mortar platoon.  Each platoon of ground-pounders was represented by two stands, either with three infantrymen or one mortar and two crewmen.

Jay Stribling was the game-master and also played on the American side as the right-flank commander.

Artillery marker placed on advancing German Infantry.


This army was originally set up for the Crossfire rules set. So each infantry platoon had three stands (3 squads). Here we are using a strength marker behind the 2-stand platoon to show its strength (from 4 down to 1 point).  As along as it has at least one point left, a platoon moves and fires at full strength.  When that last strength point is killed off, both stands are removed, as the platoon is combat ineffective at that point.


We are not using the platoon leader stands, but we are using the Company commander stands. A platoon with a company commander in the same hex may ignore the first "Retreat" result in any combat dice toss.  However, every time the unit takes a casualty, a separate die roll must be made to see if the company commander is killed also.

German effort in the center. The Panzers have outstripped their Infantry support.


As a further torment to the Germans, the cards from the "Commander's Special Deck" drawn by the Americans produced and "Air Attack" card.  A model P-47 was introduce and its 50-caliber machine guns damaged German armor, but missed the infantry.

American P-47 fighter makes a strafing run.


After two runs, the P-47 departed.  Later, another U.S. Air attack card was pulled, but the Germans countered it with a "Luftwaffe drives of enemy aircraft" card.

The village in the U.S. center


There were three villages on the U.S. side of the game table.  The Germans were trying to take all, or at least two of them.  There were also three hills that the Germans would attempt to capture.  Actually they took none of these.


After the game, the German players accused the Game-Master of making them start too far away.  Their infantry could not keep up with their tanks so the tanks attacked alone, with some artillery support.  This was a very valid criticism.  The Germans should have had extra movement to get closer to the enemy.  This will be remedied in future games.

One of Jim's tanks has been destroyed by U.S. M-18 Hellcat.


In real life the M-18 tank destroyer, while not mounting a really heavy gun was very mobile and had a high "kill to loss" ratio against the German armor.  In this game, Sean Pitts, using only one M-18 tormented his father Jim Pitts, by using the mobility of the unit to get on the flank or rear of the German tanks and dispatch them.

The M-18 Hellcat gets another one!


Although the Americans were on the defenseive, Sean Pitts, on the American left decided that The best defense is a good Offense!.  He moved out, attacking first the German Armor with his M-18, and then bringing up his infantry.  He used infantry fire and artillery (EVERY American stand can call in off-board artillery) to shred Jim Pitts Germans.  At game's end, Sean was across the table in the German rear.

The M-18 finally meets it's end after destroying 4 German tanks


The German players were: Phil Young on the left flank, Ed Sansing (CinC) in the center, and Jim Pitts on the right.  THe Americans were Sean Pitts on the left, Bill Hamilton (CinC) in the center, and Jay Stribling on the right.  Bill had four M-4 Sherman tank platoons and a company of infantry.  Sean had two companies of infantry, an M-18 TD and a 57mm AT gun.  Jay's force was similar to Sean's except that he had two AT guns and no armor.


The German forces were divided similarly but each commander on the flank had 2-3 tanks or SP guns as well as three companies of infantry.  The commander had 6 tanks and a reinforced infantry company.


Each player on both sides also had an 81-mm. mortar platoon (2 stands) and on-call off-board artillery.  In the American army, each stand could call in artillery.  On the German side, only company commanders or specified "Forward Observer" stands can request artillery.

The American center and left early in the game.

The German attack in the center

Then the Germans get an"Air attack"card and an FW-190 comes in to strafe, shooting up some U.S. footsoldiers

It's damage done, the FW-190 streaks away from the battle.

The "Cauldron" in the center of the table consumes the tanks of both sides.


In the center, stout resistance by American infantry and the inability of the German tanks to wrinkle the U.S. footsoldiers out of the woods and towns finally told.  The Germans should have had infantry support, but it was still slogging up from the start line when the game ended.  The game-master agrees that this was an error on his part and vows to do better next time.

Bayou Wars 2012 – Rolling Dice Like There’s No Tomorrow

Well Bayou Wars 2012 has come and gone and many Jackson Gamers attended and ran games. Here are a few pictures I took.

John Switzer talks to Bill Majure at the registration table.

We arrived Friday at the hotel and jumped right in hosting and playing games. Mark Stevens ran a game. Larry Reeves hosted a Civil War game and Phil Young ran a Napoleonic game.

Larry Reeves'ACW game.

The set up for Phil's game. Larry Brom seated in the background

Massed French cavalry enters during Phil's game.

Mark Stevens'game


On Saturday Jim Pitts and Bill Hamilton ran games.

Jim's TSATF game set in Back of the Beyond.

Bill's pulp fiction game using I Ain't Been Shot Mum! rules.

During the game the rocket troops and US Marines occupy the temple while the bad guys try and make off with the archeaologists.

Bill's scifi game using Fast and Dirty rules.

More on Bayou Wars to come.


Battle of Henderson Road game report

Saturday we playtested one of my games for Bayou Wars this year.

The Battle of Henderson Road is an engagement in the ongoing rebellion of the Tau Ceti colony against the Solar Alliance.  We used http://www.freewebs.com/weaselfierce/ "Fast and Dirty Scifi Skirmish" a free set of rules that works quite well for small actions. As is typical for us, I changed certain parts of the rules up pretty heavily to simplify and streamline play. 

The Earth Force Marines were tasked with occupying a small town along Henderson Road and securing access to the Culver's Gorge bridge to the northeast.  The Ceti Guard, a planetary defense force armed with second-rate equipment, are to stop this at any cost.  Both sides need the bridge intact, as it provides the only means of crossing the gorge for miles in either direction.

A platoon of Ceti Guard "Centurion" tanks, with a "Scorpion" scout tank and "Swingfire" ATGM carrier advance through some scattered woods north of town.  The town is off-camera to the top, and the road coming from the gorge is off-camera to the right.

Earth Force "Valiant" tanks advance on the road from the northwest, with a "Type IX" APC flanking them.

Valiants take position at the intersection (the Gorge is to north) and fire on the Guard tanks among the trees.  Behind them, a Marine heavy laser section sets up in rough ground.

Ceti Guard tanks taking fire from the Valiant tanks.  One Centurion is stopped temporarily (shown by the token on the turret), and a "Saracen" IFV in the background has been destroyed (shown by the cotton "smoke").  In FaD, a unit that is fired at is automatically marked as "Under Fire", which will affect how they move and shoot on their next activation.

Saracens carrying the Ceti Guard's weapons and command squads move up to the shuttle landing pad near town and engage 1st Squad in the woods.  The Saracen on the left has taken fire and been incapacitated; it will have a chance to get back into the action on its activation.

The Marines'command squad abandon their APC as it is destroyed by a Ceti Guard squad's RPG gunner off camera.

The Scorpion scout tank is destroyed by the Valiants, before it gets a chance to fire.

Valiants take return fire from the Centurions, destroying one of them.

The Marine command squad hunkers down near their stricken APC, while 1st Squad's Type IX moves to closely engage a Saracen.  Beyond, the Marines' 1st Squad engages another Saracen.

A Ceti Guard squad rushes a Marine squad in the woods, and drives them out.

A Centurion rushes forward to engage the Earth Force Valiant tanks at close range, and knocks one temporarily out of action.  When a Type IX tries the same trick, the Centurion turns it back on his attacker, knocking the APC out permanently.

The Ceti Guard weapons squad opens fire on Marines in the woods.

A lone Ceti Guard leutenant is assaulted by two Earth Force marines.  He shoots at them as they advance (5 + Veteran = 2 hits), and guns both of them down. (weapon damage 5, each rolled a 2 + 2 for heavy armor = 2 failed saves)

Ceti Guard 2nd Squad's Saracen is hit by a marine RPG, destroying it.  The squad abandons the vehicle, but takes several casualties.

A Valiant pushes into point blank range to get a rear shot on a Centurion, destroying it.

We called the game shortly after this; it was a close-fought battle, but the Marines inflicted more casualties on the Guard than they received.  The Ceti Guard players decided they wouldn't be able to overcome the Marines'developing advantage with the losses they had suffered so far.  The scenario and objectives felt pretty good to us (at least according to the old adage that it's fair if everyone is complaining).  I need to tinker with my modifications a bit, but it's all fairly minor things to smooth out play.  Nothing felt broken, which is always good.
As for what's on the table, all the Ceti Guard vehicles and the hovertrucks scattered around the town are by Combat Wombat Miniatures.  The Earth Force vehicles and grey buildings are by Ground Zero Games.  Infantry figures are Rebel Minis Earth Force Marines and Modern US Infantry.  The large shuttle and landing pad are paper models by Ebbles Miniatures (no longer available).

Russian Civil War game

The Reds surge forward on their left flank

Larry Reeves and Sean Pitts discuss strategy

The White players at the start of the game

The Reds' right flank

Finally the Reds find a crossing spot!

"River Cards"–Bad luck for the Reds

The Red Center of the field

Red forces push forward into the center

The Reds left flank

We played this game using a very modified version of our "Forward Comrades" rule set on March 17, 2012 at Jay Stribling's home in Jackson MS.  I had not been satisfied with the sequence of action that we had used in previous games, so I modified the rules to use a sequence very similar to Larry Brom's The Sword and the Flame rules set.

The troops were my 15mm RCW armies.  They are a mix of Peter Pig, Minifigs WWI and Irregular miniature figures.  I began collecting these quite a long time ago.  Previous games used our "Red and White" rules, available on our web site.

White forces enter a woods

The premise of the game was a Red attack.  The reds had two more infantry units and one more cavalry unit.  In addition, they had two turns fire support from the heavy guns of an armored train off the game table to their rear.  I think that the sequence of action went well, but it was too hard to kill units.  There was not quite enough fire power and units just hung on forever.

Before we play this again (and we will, this summer) I will increase the firepower of the machine guns and require a rally roll for falling back units when they attempt to move for the first time after a morale failure.  If you would like a copy of the rules that we used (as yet untitled) please contact me at jstribl_jackson (at)  yahoo dot com.  I will sent the rules as a word attachment to my reply.  Please specify "untitled RCW rules."

Battle of the Korea Strait (fictional 1905)

On Saturday, March 3, the Jackson Gamers met to continue their foray into the wonderful world of 1:2400 scale pre-Dreadnought naval gaming.  Jim had portions of his Russo-Japanese War fleets ready to meet in the Korea Strait.

This was a fictional encounter that pitted the Russian 1st and 2nd Pacific Squadrons sailing from Port Arthur against the Japanese Combined Fleet.  The premise was the the 2nd Pacific Squadron had reached an uncaptured Port Arthur without encountering the Japanese fleet.  Informed that troop reinforcements and supplies were being poured across the Sea of Japan to the Korean peninsula, the Russian sortied forth to disrupt the Japanese convoys.  But first they would have to get by the Japanese fleet.

The Russians initially had eight battleships, three armored cruisers, and one protected cruiser.  The Japanese had six battleships, five armored cruisers, and one protected cruiser.  Action was joined quickly.

The Russians were commanded by Sean with Travis and Phil commanding subordinate divisions.  The Japanese were commanded by Jay, with Roger and Bill commanding subordinate divisions.

We used a modified version (for pre-Dreadnoughts) of Travis' Seas of Steel naval rules.

The Russian Pacific Fleet steams into view, lead by the 1stCruiser Division (Phil), with the 1st Battle Division (Sean) to the right and the 2nd Battle Division (Travis) in the background.

The Japanese Combined Fleet steams into view, with the 1st Division (Jay) on the left, the 2nd Division (Roger) in the center and the 4th Division (Bill) on the right.

In the center, the Russian cruiser Rossiya catches fire from Japanese shells while in cruiser Bayan (background) has taken severe damage, all from fire by the Japanese 2nd Division.

In the Russian 2nd Battle Division, the battleship Pobieda also has fires started by Japanese shells from some of the Japanese cruisers of the 4th Division.

The poor Rossiya can’t seem to get a break with a raging fire started by Japanese battleship shells added to the fires already burning.  The white-painted screws are the splash markers we use to designate which ship is shooting at which target.  The taller screws indicate main battery gunfire while the shorter screws indicate secondary battery gunfire.

The Russian cruiser Askold is targeted by three Japanese battleships and in short order is pulverized and sent to the bottom of the Korea Strait.  He is the first ship sunk in the engagement, but not the last.

The small Japanese cruiser Tsu-shima is next to feel the brunt of battleship shells, this time from the Russian 2nd Battle Division who send her to the bottom.

Battleships of the Japanese 1st Division take heavy fire from the Russians with fires being started on two ships.  But the more efficient Japanese damage control quickly suppresses them.

Towards the end of the engagement newly arrived ships engage each other at close range.  In the foreground, the Japanese 5th Division (Jim) composed of four small cruisers finds itself at “knife range” with the Russian 3rd Battle Division (Phil) of four battleships.  The lead Japanese cruiser Otowa is quickly pummeled under the waves.  In the distance, the Russian cruiser Gromoboi turns back to Port Arthur after having taken heavy damage while the 1st Battle Division continues its course towards the Japanese battleships.

At engagement’s end, the Japanese 1st and 2nd Divisions appear to have stymied the Russian threat against their supply lines in the Sea of Japan by crossing the Russian “T” and forcing them to turn away.  The smaller cruisers of the 5th Division are helping by ganging up on the trailing Russian battleship.  The Japanese armored cruisers on the 4th Division have all taken severe damage (black puffs) and are keeping as far away from the Russian battleships as possible.  In the far background, two of the three remaining Russian battleships of the 2nd Battle Division (the fourth one having been sunk) may still be able to get into the Sea of Japan but will have to continue on to Vladivostok if they do.  The third battleship (black puff) will be turning back to Port Arthur.  Out of the picture to the right, the Russian cruiser Bayan continues its slow trek to Port Arthur while the cruiser Rossiya burns to a blackened hulk and slips beneath the waves.

In the last action, one of the Russian battleships of the 1st Battle Division fired its secondary batteries at a Japanese target.  Rolling five dice, Sean came up with four tens and scored four hits on the Japanese ship.  Too bad the Russians couldn’t have rolled this good all during the engagement.
Although we had to end the action before a definitive outcome could be established, it was apparent to the game master (Jim) that the Russians had lost.  The six Japanese battleships were still in good shape and only two small cruisers had been lost.  The Russians had already lost one battleship and all their cruisers.  With the Japanese having crossed the Russian's "T" and forcing them to turn away, the initiative was passing to the Japanese.  Looks like the Russians will withdraw to Port Arthur to lick their wounds.  But will the Japanese army force them out to face the Japanese fleet?  Only time will tell.