Had a great time over the weekend playing some Blucher. This time around I had a go at playing a very small battle that was part of a scenario. My copy of the classic, Scenarios for All Ages came in handy once again as I based on the game on Scenario 10 - the Important Bridge. What a great game. It turned out much better than I had expected. I won't give away the winner in the fight, as the video has yet to be posted, but needless to say it proves such small scenario based games are quite enjoyable from the normal points based game. Another feature of this battle was that I made full use of the Blucher cards - something I have never really done before. I really enjoyed the cards, I must say. They looked good on the table with my little soldiers placed on top. In addition, having all the information right there was very helpful. I am considering making proper wood trays for this purpose so I can pop my lil miniatures on them. Perhaps I will add some extra space for information such as elan. Hmmm... I like this idea actually. More on this over on my other blog, Shako & Bayonet. Well worth a go.
In regards to rules reviews, next up are the rules, Napoleon's Battles IV - a setoff classic Napoleonic rules recently released last year.
Some of the rules I am working on to post complete reviews.
Until then, expect some more videos posted on Panzer Grenadier, as well as a full BatRep of my latest Blucher battle. Below are some pics from the fight.
Cya next time.
~K
The "Nashville" Battle Mat by Cigar Box was my inspiration for the scenario.
The French took up positions early, extending along a stream.
The Russians had a clear advantage having the high ground overlooking one of the main objectives - a village/bridge.
The cards really came in handy - and looked great too!
Been delving back in to WW II gaming the past couple of weeks. In fact, sitting on my table even now is a pretty big battle using the Panzer Grenadier Deluxe set of rules. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a big fan of David Brown's rules systems - such as General de Brigade. So far I have been greatly enjoying the PG rules a great deal. All the flavor and narrative I so enjoy are found in these rules. Of course, I already did a pretty detailed review of the rulebook itself, so I wont go I to any more detail here - check out the channel for the video review :). Expect a full BatRep of the battle in the coming weeks. Anyway, it is enough to say I am really enjoying these rules.
On the review table for the coming weeks and months are Napoleon's Battles IV, General de Brigade, and some other goodies I wont go in to at the moment. Of course, I will not do a complete review unless I actually not only read all of the rules, but also have at least a couple games with. So these things do take time. I have played GdB however, so expect this one up soon enough.
Some people have been asking me about the SOLO Tactics series I am planning. It's enough to know that I have been working on this for some time. Most of the delays are about coming up with a format for the videos - something I believe I have figured out. So yes, be on the lookout for this new series soon. In it I will not only detail useful tips for improving your enjoyment of SOLO wargaming, but also go in to some of the philosophy behind playing SOLO!
To end the update, here are some pics from my recent battle using the PGD rules. Enjoy, and see you next time :)
~K
The Americans assault the bridge - a vital objective held by German FJ units - for the battle.
The FJ set up some deadly fire-zones overlooking the bridge, putting some well aimed fire with an MG42 section.
Ealy on the Americans were hit hard by German mort. fire. Here recon units are spreading out and taking cover.
A very dense lay-out for the fight. Lots of terrain with interesting tactical situations possible. I used the Cigar Box Nashville mat again for this one - one of my favorite mats.
Hi everyone. Been a long while since I did an update here on the Wall of Shields. For one thing I had to shut the blog down for a while as I was attempting to re-organize all my blogs in to one. Didn't work out too well. So, here we are once again :) This time I will be keeping the blog separate from all my other blogs as I know a lot of people have more interest in ancients wargaming as opposed to my other interests, such as WW II.
Anyway, just ordered the newest Battle Mat from Cigar Box, Caribbean Waters, and it looks FANTASTIC! This of course is for a new project of mine - ancient naval! Always wanted to do this, so I am pretty stoked to get an awesome mat to go with the project. Way better than just a solid blue piece of felt!
In other news, I am trying to get back in to finishing up my last DBA campaign - Rome and the Gauls! It's been a while and I really want to get back to working on my campaign rules. Should be interesting after all this time has gone by.
Anyway, glad to get back to posting something on here and plan on doing more.
Hi everyone! Been a while since my last update. Actually, have had this blog shut-down a short while as I put together new content and re-focus somewhat. However, I do have things back in order for the most part. I know a lot has gone on in the past few months and I plan on updating this blog much more often. Already I have updated some of the pages regarding the rules I use and some of the NEW game reviews I have done recently - mostly from my Dash of Elan channel on YouTube. Feel free to have a look and tell me what you think.
Be sure to check out A Dash of Élan blog link as it is my MAIN HUB for all my wargaming blogs! Everything from ancients, Napoleonic, to the Tabletop Commanders. It all is linked from there :)
Anyway, stay tuned for more. Here are some pics from a recent battle I had with the Panzer Grenadier Deluxe rules - a FULL video review will be up in the reviews section by the end of the week.
Had my first game of Blucher after a long while. This game however was played out on Google+ Hangouts - basically Skype, except made public. I did not actually "play" in the battle - I was the host. Five friends made up the opposing commanders for the French and the Russians. Was a blast as well as a good experience in multi-player gaming using the Blucher rules. Needless to say, I will be looking more in depth at using these rules in multi-player games online. A three part video of the battle, check out part one at the bottom of this post. Note we made use of the Scharnhorst campaign rules to set-up the fight. If you like, check out the rest of the battle on A Dash of Élan YouTube channel.
I have done a large number of these Live Plays on Hangouts already. In fact, I love it so much I will be upgrading my webcam shortly in order to improve video quality. Stay tuned for that if you enjoy these videos.
In other news I have just completed the command stands for Napoleon and Kutuzov! I must say, I am quite pleased with how they came out. I even added a figure for Napoleon's Mameluke body guard, Roustam Raza.
Napoleon's command base.
Roustam Raza
Kutuzov's command base.
Next up on the painting desk I have another battalion of Russian musketeers to get done. One good thing is I already have the command models already painted up - product of my re-basing a few weeks back. In addition, I also just put out an order for Pavlov grenadiers which will soon be making themselves known. In addition, some much needed French infantry and horse artillery units - for both sides in this case, are also on the way. Ahhh... the fun of collecting new models :)
As for gaming, I am actually looking forward to having a go with another round of Black Powder. Yes, I do so love GdB, but it will definitely be a while before my collection has some more variety and size before I can put on some bigger battles. Same could be true of BP, but I do get an extra unit or two on the table with these rules. BP is a fun quick game. We shall see.
Anyway, that's about it for this update. Not much really. School is keeping me occupied to be sure, save for the odd game session here and there. So enjoy the video and please leave comments. Until next time my friends...
