Jackson Gamers

The armies that we used for this Medieval battle are those belonging to Jay Stribling – your esteemed correspondent. They are divided into an army for each of two fictional kingdoms, Circumference (the rounds) and Parallelogram (the Squares). The figures are individually mounted, a holdover from the days when we (Jay Stribling, Erice Teuber and Robert Whitfield) first began to raise these forces. That was back in 1985 or so.

Additionally Jim Pitts has some medieval/fantasy forces that “slot into” the larger armies of Square and Round. Jim’s forces form the basis for a third Kingdom that can ally itself to either side.

For this battle – games on November 15, 2014, our scenario was as follows: The Dark Family has refused to let tax collectors from Circumference into their land. They reside in a fortified tower (seen above) in Darkland on the border of Parallelogram. The King of Circumference has sent forces to besiege the Dark Tower. The King of Parallelogram, while having no love for the Dark Family will do anything to irritate Circumference. So, the forces of round and square meet at the Dark family’s home, the Dark Tower.

At the set up, the ruined abbey, part of the defenses of the Dark tower, were occupied by the two units of Dwarf-knights. This view from the west was taken by Jim Pitts.

The above photo shows knights of the Parallelogram army riding to meet the forces of Circumference on the east side of the Dark Tower, seen in the background. All photos not specifically credited to Jim Pitts are by Jay Stribling.

These are the reserve knights of Parallelogram, moving west and about to cross the stream at the marked ford where it could be crossed without penalty. The stream was fordable with a movement penalty anywhere else. The river, seen in the background, could not be crossed except at three marked fords, with a movement penalty even at the fords.

This is the advance guard of the army of Circumference. These Knights and Mounted Yeomen have begun the battle on the southern side of the river and formed the right flank (west flank) of the Round army.

The Reserve of Circumference rides out of their camp to cross the river and reinforce the advance guard, on the western flank. The figures are by Essex except for their leader (in Gilt armour) who is a very old Minifig.

Two units of peasants occupy a cornfield guarding the river crossing to the east of the tower. These sturdy lads (and some old geezers too!) are part of the army of Circumference, which elected to try to defeat the oncoming Parallelogram army on the southern side of the river – the Dark tower was under siege by Parallelogram just to the north of the river. In the rules that we use for our medieval battles – Rules by Ral circa 1985 – only peasants can occupy wooded or rough terrain such as the cornfield.

A unit of foot knights of Parallelogram defend the eastern end of the works around the Dark Tower. These are not real castle walls and represent small defenses to keep wandering cattle penned up and hasty works erected by the Dark family when the King of Circumference’s ire at them became known.

Another view of the defended perimeter of the Dark tower. The archers on the roof were given double range (it’s a pretty tall tower guys!) and would have been virtually immune to shooting from below. They would have been less well able to defend the tower if enemy melee troops had reached the entrance (on the side facing the river) but that never happened.

This view, looking north shows the defenses of the Dark tower from the rear or river side. Note the Dark ogre occupying one of the ruined outbuildings. Placed there by Jim Pitts, without the sanction of the game-master (!) no one attempted to defend or attack that particular ruin. Photo by Jim Pitts.

Knights and archers of Circumference move between the cornfield (on their right) and “Haunted Hill” on their left, about to melee with the leading knights of Parallelogram. One of the peasant units has already been forced from the cornfield because of bowfire casualties.

Units in the army of Circumference have round labels on their bases, with letter codes for knightly units and numbers for yeomen or peasant units. Units in the army of Parallelogram have (you guessed it!) square labels.

On the extreme right flank of Circumference, to the east of “Haunted Hill” Knights from both sides meet at lance-point, while a round archery unit (old Ral Partha figures) fire at a barely visible square unit. “Haunted Hill” was the name that I gave to this hill, with the warning that “If you try to go onto haunted hill, a bad thing may happen”. In reality, I had no mechanism in place for “Bad things” in this game. My reputation as a game-master for allowing “Bad things” to happen in previous games was enough to keep both sides off the hill for most of the game.

A view from the roof of the Dark tower, showing the attackers and defenders. Photo by Jim Pitts.

The household troops of the Dark family (as opposed to the Parallelogram forces aiding their defense) were represented by two 12-figure units of Dwarves from the army of Jim Pitts. We classified them as foot knights (very tough) for this game and they performed well, till caught in the flank/rear by the mounted guard of Circumference.

The mounted guard of Circumference have turned away from the river ford, and from their mission to aid the round advance guard forces on the southern side of the river, to help defeat the dwarf knights of Darkland who sortied out from the defenses to drive off an attacking round unit.

One of the defending units has broken and is falling back from the wall. The head of the Dark Family – Baron Occluded
(the Dark Lord) is shown, mounted, to the right of the image.

Lord Oval, commander of the main body of Circumference pushes more forces into the melee on the left, between the cornfield and “Haunted hill”. Note that all of the round peasant units have been forced from the cornfield. Without cover of some time, peasants are not too effective in our games.

A slightly fuzzy image of the battle on the eastern end of the Dark tower’s defenses. The defending unit has been reduce to only seven men, while the attacking unit is almost fresh. All of our foot units start with 12 figures and take a substantial morale penalty when reduced to half strength. The mounted units have 9 figures at the start and must be reduced to only 4 survivors before they lose a morale step.

The dwarf-knights who sortied from the ruined abbey (part of the defenses of the Dark tower) are fighting back to back against the mounted guard of Circumference (the knights to the rear of the image) and yeomen and foot knights to their front. The leader of the dwarf-knights (in red, with pointy hat) gestures imperiously, but the grim look on his face shows that he wishes they had never come over the wall.

Sean Pitts (in center) and his father Jim Pitts (on right) commanded the main army of Parallelogram in this battle. They are shown adjusting forces and removing casualties from the struggle between the cornfield and “Haunted hill”. Jay Stribling commanded the detached forces of Parallelogram assisting in the defense of the Dark tower.

Another view of the scrum between the cornfield and “Haunted hill”. Sean Pitts has moved archers onto “Haunted hill”. Every time one of his units fell back from the melee, the archers would fire, inflicting casualties on the forces of Circumference and then Sean would charge back into the melee with a fresh unit. These tactics, combined with the fact that a large amount of the round army was attempting to storm the Dark tower, led to the army of Circumference conceding the day and raising the siege.

A view from the southern table edge as Sean Pitt’s Parallelogram forces win the battle between the cornfield and “Haunted hill”. Photo by Jim Pitts.

Jim Pitts (on left) points out another casualty while Ed Sansing (center) reaches to remove it. Russ Schnieder (on right) watches intently to make certain that Jim is not inflating the casualty count. Ed and Russ commanded the forces of Circumference in this battle.

Note the figures on the right, beyond the tented camp. This is the graveyard. One advantage of individually mounted troops is that no casualty rings are necessary, one just removes the little men. As Russ might be saying “They’re dead Jim!”

A rare view from the West, looking toward the Dark Tower. Jim Pitt’s forces, in the foreground, are moving to the left, against the round troops under Ed Sansing. Photo by Jim Pitts.

A similar view a bit later in the game. Jim’s forces are driving Ed back. This photo is also by Jim Pitts.

Lord Quadro, leader of the Parallelogram Advance guard fights with his men on the extreme right flank of the square forces. He is pushing them back towards the eastern battlefield edge, watched by the Circumference commander, Russ Schneider (in checked shirt). This is late in the game, when Sean Pitts commanding the Circumference forces in this area had won superiority over Parallelogram. Photo by Jim Pitts.

We played about (I can not remember) four turns in this game from 10:00am to about 12:45pm. At that point, the King of Circumference had enough. He whined a bit about not having enough superiority of forces to carry the tower. The game-master (who had, it must be admitted, fought on the Parallelogram side) whined back that there was no need to even assault the tower, that the victory conditions were to kill the enemy, and that the possession of the tower only counted as two dead enemy unit…

After lunch, supplied by Ed Sansing, we played a very fun board game of Risk – Godstorm using our own BHOF variant. A good time was had by all, especially this writer who won that game by strategy and hot dice!

On Saturday August 2nd 2014, the Jackson Gamers played a 20mm game set in German East Africa during the Great War. The British forces were advancing to seize supplies in three villages. The Germans needed to stop them.

Jay Stribling created the scenario and was the “Gamemaster”. All the photos shown are by him unless otherwise credited.

The British players shown are Ed Sansing (standing) and Russel Schnieder (in Day-Glo shirt!) A third British player, Phil Young, is out of the image to the right.

The German players are Sean Pitts (left) and Jim Pitts (right). They await the British onslaught with seeming insouciance.

British forces advance towards the German occupied area. All German forces began the game hidden, while the British troops had to march on from the table edge. The British were given the option to send up to two platoons (20 men each) and two machine guns on a flanking march to either the left or right, arriving on the appropriate table edge at the start of the third turn, but they decided not to risk it.

This shows the central village where German bearers are assembling the supplies for removal to the rear. A thorn bush zariba encloses part of the village.

The third “village” is actually a German radio station, worth 15 victory points. The British did not know this, but the village was visibly different from the other two with no groups of bearers and the mast of the radio station was visible to the British if they bothered to look.

The 15-point value of this radio station eventually won the game for the Germans.

The “long ridge” on the British right (German left) was occupied by Herr J. Pitts’ infantry and he used it to some effect against Ed Sansing’s British troops. Eventually Ed flanked this position and drove Jim Pitts off the ridge, enabling the British forces to see the “first village.’ By that time, the bearers were departing with the supplies that had been stored there.

Note that while your humble correspondent refers to the opposing forces as “British” or “German” almost all of the miniature soldiers represent African troops in service to the Kaiser or the King-Emperor George V.

“Machine gun hill” was a small knob near the second (central) village. Sean Pitts garrisoned it with two water cooled machine guns. A careful look at the side of the hill reveals the webs of giant (!) African (?) spiders.

These machine guns were curiously ineffective and a close inspection of the photograph reveals the reason. One was set up facing the wrong way!

South African troops move to support the assault on “machine gun” hill. The officers in the background wearing the yellow rings are the overall British command party.

This is an overall view of machine gun” hill. Photo by Jim Pitts.

The Kings African Rifles lead the assault on “machine gun hill”. These troops suffered terribly in the assault and the lead unit was wrecked. Maddeningly for the British, the Germans are allowed to re-crew machine guns with drafted infantrymen, but British machine guns which suffer heavy crew losses are out of action for the game.

Ed Sansing is rolling fire dice as he attempts to drive the German troops off the long ridge.

A view of the British command in action, viewed from the German lines, with Russ Schneider (on left) and with Phil Young both watching closely as Sean Pitts adjusts the extreme right-flank German unit. Photo by Jim Pitts.

The assault on “machine gun hill”. While the feverish rolling of the dice by Sean Pitts and Russ Schneider is just off-camera, you can see a few men have been wounded already. In “close combats” using The Sword and the Flame rules, pairs of figures are matched against each other and a D6 is rolled. The high die wins the combat between that pair and the losing die roll decides the fate of the losing figure. If the losing D6 roll is “1” then the figure is killed, if a “2” then he is wounded, and if 3 or more, he falls back out of the fight, to join his unit at the end of the melee.

Another British unit moves forward to assault the “Wireless Station hill.” We are looking over the shoulders of the German unit on the extreme right of their line – and the extreme edge of the battlefield. Your correspondent has a game table eight feet long and five feet wide. Many is the time that I have wished for another foot or two in one or the other direction, but if the table was larger, there would be no room for gamers around it!

“Wireless Station hill” was a very strong position containing an infantry unit and a machine gun section behind a thorn bush hedge. It was not seriously threatened by the one attacking unit.

A brightly backlit image shows that Ed Sansing’s troops have cleared the Germans off the “long ridge” and are advancing, pushing the German askari troops before them. The men who look like they have lampshades on their heads are a British unit from the Gold Coast. They wore strangely shaped pith helmets.

A column of native bearers moves supplies out of the central village. Three native riflemen provide a meager escort, but the defending German troops (in background) never allowed the British to come near them.

A similar column of bearers moves out of the other village. Jim Pitts has a few infantrymen as a rear guard. The Gold Coast troops can be seen in the background descending the long ridge. Note the crocodile in the stream in the right foreground. Neither player attempted to ford the stream but the game-master would have had the crocodiles pounce on them if they had!

We played four turns in about three hours. We did not push the game, and gossiped and joked during it, so we possibly could have played one or two more turns. However, it was clear that the Game-master had seriously underestimated the time required for the British players to reach the villages in the center of the gaming area, and that the German Players had conducted an effective defense. They used firepower and defendsible positions to delay Ed Sandsing’s advance on the British right flank and to stonewall the other British players – Russ Schneider and Phil Young – in the British center and left.

The Germans had six units of infantry and three sections (2 guns per section) of machine guns. The British had eight units of infantry and two sections of machine guns. Neither side had any artillery. If we play this scenario again either the German defenders must be reduced in strength or the British attackers must have more power.

The above is a photo of the British left flank and in the distance much of the game table. The assault on “wireless hill” is in progress. Photo by Jim Pitts.

Three comments from the senior German commander, Major Yakov von Pitzfeld, Baron Potzdorf (Jim Pitts).

1. I deliberately gave up the “long ridge” as soon as the bearers had left the smaller village with the supplies and slowly withdrew in front of the Anglanders to delay their advance.

2. “Machinegun Hill” was also under my command. The ineffective Anglander assault on it was repulsed due to the heroic efforts of the machinegun section commander, Oberfeldwebel Puttkammer. He will be awarded the Eisenkreuz, Erste Klasse for his gallant defense.

3. My son, Rittmeister Johannes Pitzfeld, defending Radio Hill staunchly, easily defeating the uninspired leadership Anglander leadership.

All joking aside, it was a good test of both the “new” rules (a new variant of “The Sword and the Flame”) and of the scenario. – Jim Pitts

Jim, Ed and I played a game of Pulp Alley a few weeks ago. It’s an interesting game with quirky mechanics centered around an activation system based on advantage. In short, the player with initiative declares which player gets to activate a figure next; initiative is determined by what players do, and can switch hands multiple times in a turn. It plays pretty quickly once the players are used to the rules, but it has some interesting twists that take getting used to.

Deep in the jungles of Southeast Asia, an ancient tomb holds unimaginable wealth and power for those who can take it. With the Tomb of Li-Zhao recently revealed, dozens have come to take what they can. Who will succeed?

Captain Rogers’ crew (played by Jim) is about to brave the river.  If the treasure of Li-Zhao is all the legends say, they will all be rich beyond their wildest dreams.

Commander Varken (Ed) landed his Zeppelin troopen close by.  They will claim the treasure of Li-Zhao for Der Fuhrer and the Fatherland, beginning with the glint of metal showing from this strange well. This is a “Plot Point” in the rules, and capturing it is worth a victory point.

Doc Rocket (myself), with his trusty sidekicks Captain Halsey and Sarge, cross a stream and approach the site from the west.

While his men, Doc Rocket’s team and the Zeppelin troopen had a three way gunfight, Captain Rogers captured the treasure of Li-Zhao itself (another Plot Point).

Doc Rocket and his teammates spent several turns searching through the abandoned archaeological encampment while dodging bullets.  Finally they turned up a strange amulet (a third Plot Point).

At this point we ended the game, as Ed had to leave early. Jim could easily escape to the south where I couldn’t stop him.  The main Plot Point he captured was worth three victory points, beating the one point each of us had for the Plot Points Ed and I took.

It was an interesting game.  I’d like to give it a try again some time, though I also have some other pulp rule sets I want to give a spin as well.

We played this game at Fondren Presbyterian Church in Jackson MS. on April 6, 2013. This was a large battle, a kind-of recreation of the American Civil War battle of Champion Hill, which was fought on May 16, 1863. In the real battle, General Grant overwhelmed the forces of CSA General Joseph Pemberton and sent the rebel army retreating into Vicksburg where it surrendered on July 4, 1863 after a siege. Ours was a 25mm game using our 30+ year old armies composed mainly of Minifigs, Hinchliffe and Custom Cast figures. For variety a few Garrison and RAFM miniatures along with several brigades of young whippersnapper Old Glory troops also march in our armies.

The Gamemaster for the game was Jay Stribling. The photos are by Jim Pitts. The rules used were a variant of Larry Brom’s A Glint of Bayonets.

During the Game Set-up

The above photo shows the set-up with about half of the Confederate forces on the field. The Champion hill is shown. The lower tiers of the hill were wooded and the crown was clear.

Another Set-up Image

Another view, similar to the above, during the game set-up. Again, the central hill is shown. Note the wooden ruler at the rear of the hill. This simulates the Confederate line of retreat, which was a Union objective during the game.

A Union Brigade Is Deployed

This shows the size of an “average” brigade in this game. Each regiment has six 4-man stands (24 men total) and this 3-regiment brigade thusly has 72 infantry figures plus a mounted Brigdier general.

View From The Confederate Rear

This shows more of the Union Army being set up. The order of deployment was, half of the Confederate brigades were set up first, then half of the Federal army’s brigades, then the remainder of the Rebel troops (less two brigades kept off the table) and lastly the rest of the Union brigades (with two brigades similarly held off as reserves).

The Confederate Right

This shows the regiment on the extreme Confederate right flank. This unit, composed of “veteran” Custom Cast figures, is owned by Jim Pitts.

A Mass Of Union Troops

This shows the right half of the Union army, deployed, possibly at the end of the first game turn. Jay Ainsworth is shown at the end of the game table. Partially shown are Sean Pitts and Fred Diamond (on extreme right of image).

Martha Stevens Adjusting Troops

The Confederate Players were: Phil Young (Extreme right flank) Bill Hamilton (Center-right) John Murdaugh (C-in-C, Center) Martha Stevens (center-left) and Jay Ainsworth (extreme left flank)

The Union Players were: Sean Pitts (Extreme right flank) Mark Stevens (C-in-C, Center-right) Fred Diamond (Center) Jim Pitts (Center-left) and Jay Stribling (Extreme Left flank).

The Confident Confederate General

Bill Hamilton, his forces deployed in line on the central hill, confidently awaits the Federal horde. Bill’s troops defended the hill well, till the last turn when he swept down off it to advance against the withered forces of Jim Pitts.

The Federal Advance

Union general Jim Pitts’ first brigade has it’s regiments in line, advancing against the rebels on the Champion hill. Note that the regiment closest to the camera has already lost two of it’s six stands. Rebel Generals shown in the background are, John Murdaugh (in his red battle-shirt), Martha Stevens, and Jay Ainsworth.

At The Double-Quick Boys!

With national and regimental flags flying, the first Union reserve brigade (I believe) advances in columns behind the front, trying to gain position to deploy into firing line.

The Union Left Advances Into The Killing Ground

This shows Jay Stribling’s command on the Extreme Federal left flank, advancing against Phil Young’s Confederates. Note the Palmetto flags of the defending brigade, indicating that they are South Carolinians. The figures in the foreground are Old Glory miniatures, painted and owned by Jay Ainsworth.

The Green ring on the flag closest to the camera indicates that the regiment has a morale point of 2. The gold ring on the regiment in the center of the image shows a morale point of 4 – much superior. By the end of the sixth turn of the game (the last turn) all the regiments shown here had been blown away by the Rebel sharpshooters. Only a 4-stand rump of one regiment and the red-shirted battery (partially seen behind the trees) remained on the Federal left flank.

Forward The Seventh Michigan!

The brave 7th Michigan regiment gets onto the hill, driving off the first line of Confederat defenders. Will they be able to take the guns on the crest? Ahh- No. Too many rebel defenders and too much cannister fire, drove them back, tattered and bleeding.

The High Water Mark

From the same brigade, the 20th Massachusetts infantry gets onto the hill amd attempts to seize the crest. Alas, they also were pushed back.

The Federal Advance On the Right

Toward the end of the game, the remaining mass of the Union army moves forward on the Federal right flank. Martha Stevens would be hard pressed to hold the connecting line between the hill and Jay Ainsworth’s troops on the Extreme Confederal left. But while this looks promising for General Grant, on his left flank, Generals Stribling and Pitts were being flayed by superior numbers and massive concentrations of Confederate artillery on the crest of Champion hill.

The Empty Field

At the end of the fifth turn, this shows the portion of the battlefield that had been filled by the troops of Jim Pitts’ command at the beginning of the battle. Note that Bill Hamilton has moved his first unit of Rebel infantry off the hill and is advancing against Jim’s left, severing the commands of Jim from that of Jay Stribling on the Federal extreme left.

The Massive Union Right – 1

The Massive Union Right – 2

The two images above show the mass of the Union army concentrated on it’s right. The time is at the game’s ending. The Federals are threatening the Champion hill and all of the Confederate forces to the north of the hill. In the real battle, this force broke the Confederates and sent them streaming to the rear. However, unlike our game, in the real struggle, the Union left was still intact. Not so here!

Travis Melton is shown in a yellow shirt. Travis arrived late and took over the command of Jay Ainsworth who had to leave the game, but returned in time to witness the ending.

So, what did we learn from this game? Our fast-play version of Larry Brom’s rules seemed to work well. The game-master, Jay Stribling, tried to keep the game moving and generally succeeded. In a three hour period (excluding set-up time and our lunch break) we played six turns. Not bad for 11 players and 2000+ miniatures in the game. A good time seemed to be had by all, which is normal for the Jackson Gamers.

We plan to put this game on again at Bayou Wars in Metaire LA in June, 2013. We hope to see you there!