Community Connection

Our club participated in the very nicely run Hunt for Hampton History - a celebration of the 400th anniversary of Hampton, and other settlement of our local area here in Virginia.

We set up some games - American War of Independence and American Civil War - and then played these out in public, as demonstrations. Whenever someone showed interest in the game and how it worked, we tried to get them to sit in and play one of the commands for a few turns. There were a good number of kids who played, and I think that we made a good impression on the community about wargaming.

It was a real fun time, and I would like to do more. If you think this is a good idea, leave some comments below.

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May 8 - Battle Hymn (Richmond)

Here is an announcement from Scott Craig (coordinator)

It's time once again for Battle Hymn, a friendly local gaming convention taking place on Saturday May 8, 2010 here near Richmond, Virginia!

This year, the Richmond Leisure Society has combined forces with the Virginia Aviation Museum to put on quite a show. We're especially excited about this partnership. Only at the Virginia Aviation Museum can you get up close and personal with an actual Great War fighter, an SR-71 Blackbird, a Huey Slick, an F-14 Tomcat and William Randolph Hearst's personal air-limo!

The central hall of the museum has been given over to gaming, and several secondary areas have been made available for our use.

The Museum opens at 9:30 and closes at 5:00, so we have uninterrupted time in between.

Besides our miniatures and board gaming, attractions include a mini movie theater showing the Soviet classic "Liberation" and other films, a state of the art flight simulator, and all of the outstanding exhibits that are part of the museum! A guided tour of the exhibits will be given during the break in gaming as well.

Admission is $6 USD per adult, $5 USD per child under 18. Seniors and active military enjoy reduced rates.

Here is a list of the games being hosted this year.

• Flames of War miniatures game Demo Table
• Flames of War Mega Game
• Colonial Adventures miniatures game
• Warhammer Legends of the Old West
• Warhammer Fantasy Battles Demo
• Warhammer 40K Apocalypse Battle
• Zap! boardgame tournament
• Lycanthropes in Lorraine Weird War II
• Tin Cans and Greyhounds WWII naval game
• Imperial boardgame
• Steam Over Holland railroad game
• Wings of War WWI boardgame
• Racing boardgames
• Canvas Eagles miniatures game
• Junior Eagles WWI Aerial Combat miniatures game
• Advanced Civilization boardgame
• Confrontation v3.5 miniatures game
• Black Powder American Revolution miniatures game
• Miniatures Sculpting Demo by Jared Anderson
• Magic: The Gathering tournament
• Open miniatures gaming tables
• Open board gaming tables

For information about the Virginia Aviation Museum, including driving directions:

vam.smv.org

For information about Battle Hymn, including updates:

Myspace: myspace.com/battlehymn

or

Facebook: link


Scott Craig
Battle Hymn Events Coordinator
The Richmond Leisure Society

Leave a comment if you are attending...

May 1 - Swap Meet and Game Day at the Hangar

Hello All - just a reminder about an upcoming Wargaming Event in Hampton Virginia.

There will be a swap meet, game day, and cookout at The Hangar (Carl Sciscio's place) in Hampton on May 1. There will be tables available for open gaming, there will be some games planned (WWII, Russian Civil War, Boardgames), and of course the swap meet. Bring what you like to sell or trade, and come ready to trade or buy! Also there will be a cookout - so be sure to bring something to share with everyone, and join in for the food.

ODMS Game Day/Swap Meet
The Hangar (directions at http://www.odms-club.com/)
May 1 - 10:00am EDT

Thanks to all of ODMS and Carl Sciscio

AAR - Shako II, April 17 - at the Hangar

Here are some observations on the game from Steve McCabe - a game run by Scott Kidd!

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I wanted to say great game and thanks for putting it on Saturday night. Two weeks in a row of Shako... getting spoiled! The French under Crouch, John, and Carl pretty much crushed the Russian / Prussian alliance. Not that we didn't do our fair share of damage, but I think the final point spread was 2 points for the alliance and almost 5 for the French.

I figured I could go over some observations here for a pick-up game:

1) They are big!

2) Not a lot of Cavalry. 4 or 5 regiments out of 31-40 line units.

3) Objectives: I think the objectives need to be more spread out. A town with two VPs, created both a bottleneck and a very strong position with woodline to both sides of it. My suggestions are:
a)two VPs spread out seperated by at least 24" so that there are not the bottle necks.
OR
b)Use no strategic VPs and instead base it on the destruction of the enemy army, the typical 1 point per division destroyed.

4) Movement to Contact. I think an interesting idea to play is that there is no "attacker and defender", instead there are two objectives more or less in the middle of the board. That way, there is no 20% additional, and both sides would have to think of a plan to not only take the objectives, but how to hold them.

5) Reserves: March to the sound of the guns. Instead of the 1 division in reserve like we did this time. The commander gets to decide maybe one or two divisions that will be the vanguard. Arrange the divisions in their "marching order" And roll to see which turn the actually come in on. The Prussian/Russian alliance had 5 infantry divisions and 1 cavalry division. These were no midget divisions, but big ones. Phasing might make the board a little more manageable, let combat take place, and also make the positions much more tenable. The Russian Reserve division came in at the end of turn 3. Never used. The French reserve division came in at the end of turn 4. It was finally used during turn 9+ and only as the capacity to add depth to the front line troops. Wonder if the French couldn't form a complete line. Think how worried they would be about getting those reserves in.

6: Bonus Selection. If we play with notes 4 & 5 above, we could in fact also make room for possibly one bonus selection, especially if you see Note 2, not a lot of cavalry!

Just some observations.

Anyway, great game Scott and thanks for being brave enough to run the first pick-up game. I like historical scenarios better throwing in the odd mix of pick-up games I think that is a great way to spice things up.

La Colina Verde - Spanish American War (May 6)

On May 6, Chuck will be running a Spanish-American War game. Plenty of room for commanders, just drop him an email through the ODMS mailing list. The scenario will be called "La Colina Verde" and will take place in San Balkano (my fictional version of Cuba, for wargaming).

The Spanish hold the villa at the top of Colina Verde, and have heavy reinforcements moving through the area to the river docks, but they Americans have the hill surrounded. Can the Spanish sally down the hill and clear the way for their reinforcement column? Or will the US Forces prove too tough for the Spanish and their "Havana Rifle" allies? (pictured below - American forces attempting to force the Spanish Position)

A fascinating conflict, and (as far as I know) a new one for ODMS. These will be new rules ("A Splendid Little War"), but will be based on "Forward for the Czar" (my Russo-Japanese Rules).

Some good links on the Spanish-American War are

• Crucible of Empire - the PBS show
  and related links.
  
• War in Cuba - maps, OOB and history articles
  

Upcoming Schedule for ODMS

April 22 - Across Eight Centuries - Medieval Rules from Wayne

April 24-25 - Tank Shock (Danville VA)

May 1 - Swap Meet, Cook Out, Game Day - At the Hangar!
Includes Go for Broke - 28mm WWII (Justin)

May 6 - La Colina Verde - 15mm Spanish-American War (Chuck)

May 8 - Battle of Hagelberg - 15mm Napoleonics (Scott)

May 20 - Speed Circuit - Wayne

May 27 - Speed Circuit - Wayne

June 5 - Flames of War - Joseph

June 19 - Crossing the Hoffhandel - 15mm Napoleonics (Chuck)

July 8 - Into Beulah Land - ACW 25mm (Chuck)

August 13-15 - Guns of August

May 8 - Shako II Battle at the Hangar

May 8th Shako game, Battle of Hagelberg
10:00am-2:00pm



Hosted by Scott Kidd

Here are some cool weblinks to find out about the battle:

Great History here.
Great Gaming files here.

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April 10 - AAR - Shako Battle

The battle of Tudela (links here, here, here and here) was fought today at the Hangar, put on by Mancave Productions (John and Steve).

It was a great time. The Spanish finally managed to pull off a victory, but it was real close.

Here is an excellent AAR written by Steve (one of the Referee staff, and also a Spanish commander) . . .

I wanted to that all for joining in the battle this weekend. We had a tough fight with Carl, Eric, Cliff, and John as the French and Scott, Justin, Chuck, and myself as the Spanish.

I believe this was the largest or very close the largest engagement we have played (number of figures involved) to date. The objectives were of course the elimination of the enemy and the occupation of the the little farming community of Tudela.

The Spanish held some strong defensive positions with a stream, and then hill positions, but most of the center and left flank forces were made up of Second Rate with a small core of regular (with one elite). The right flank was made up mostly of unreliable with some regular to boost it. There was a reserve cavalry force made up of Second Rate (SR) and Unreliable Cavalry with one regiment of regular.

The French were assaulting with 3 divisions of regular infantry, and one division of the Elite Vistula Legion (Poles). In support were a cavalry division the was lead by a currasier. The French opted to do the flank march with the Vistula Legion, which took them out for almost half the game, but when they came on, they were like a steam roller.

I personally believe the decisive moment of the game came when the French cavalry, instead of assaulting the defending infantry across the stream, the launched an attack between the two hills of the center and right flank of the Spanish. A great tactical move, unfortunately, both line units passed their hasty square and halted and then eventually destroyed the cavalry division. It was the dice roll for the hasty square, for if the cavalry got through, the right flank and center would have been in a hard fight to survive.

The French forces under Carl on the French right flank battled at the Spanish left flank under Scott. Carl was like a hammer on an anvil, and even though the whole affair was bloody and costly for the French, the Spanish could not hold in the end and the Spanish left flank finally had enough and decided a Siesta was more enjoyable to fighting the French.

The smaller French division on the left flank under Cliff had the opposite effect, causing heavy casualties on my forces, but the larger Spanish division was able to outlast and eventually destroy the smaller force. Cliff's persistence though diverted the Spanish from the real threat though, which was the flanking force under John, the Elite Vistula. When they came on, the Spanish with one of their best, a line unit held the town, confident that the town would be safe. Instead, the town was not even road bump, as the Vistula Legion not only took the town, but then started playing havoc in the rear of the Spanish right flank and center.

The center for the Spanish seemed secure for a long time until the French reserve division came in under Eric. Eric's French initially played havoc on Justin's Second rate infantry at the creek, but then Justin reinforced the line, and with the help of the Spanish Cavalry Division eventually the French Center was destroyed. The Spanish Cavalry then tried to show initiative and turn to the left flank, but alas one victory (and the only victory for the Spanish cavalry to date) was more than enough. Elated with victory the cavalry stood fast and let the French occupy the Spanish left flank.

I thought this was a great fight. Very bloody and could have gone either way. I still believe the decisive moment was the hasty square, because if the Spanish failed there, the French would have in all honestly vaporized my division.

The final score was:

French (1 enemy division destroyed and occupation of Tudela): 2 Victory points

Spanish (3 enemy divisions destroyed): 3 Victory points.

Once again, thanks for everyone joining.

So when is the next fight? Scott, I will send you my school schedule. Hopefully you can schedule it on a weekend I am not at school as I would like to do another game of Shako. If not, I understand.

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French/Polish side was commanded by John, Cliff, Eric and Carl.

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Spanish side was commanded by Steve, Justin, Scott and Chuck.

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The only thing that was missing, was the theme song of the Spanish side of the battle (The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly). So here it is.

April 8 AAR - Speed Circuit

Wayne hosted a half dozen Speed Circuit games at the Hangar last night, and they were all fun.

The best match was one where Carl and Oscar raced out in front of everyone else, and were battling pretty close right up until the crossing of the line by Carl!

Great fun.

Tank Shock - April 24/25

Mini-Con hosted by Triangle Simulation Society in Danville Virginia.

Tanks, Miniatures, Gaming - all under one roof.

Info on the convention (and registration rates, which look to be $12 per day at the door) are at Tank Shock Website.

Information about the American Armored Foundation Tank Museum in Danville Virginia is located at the AAF Tank Museum Website.

Information on TSS (who are a bunch of great guys, putting on two full sized conventions, a games day, and Tank Shock) is located at the Triangle Simulation Website.

It would be great if some ODMSers went to Tank Shock to play FOW or whatever.

June 5 - Big FoW D-Day battle at the Hangar

Joseph Berry is going to host a large (multiple player, multiple table) game of Flames of War at the Hangar on June 5.

The game will feature a number of players, representing German, US, and British commands. Write to Joseph at strike23462@yahoo.com for details about participating.

If you can't play, come and watch!