ACW Campaign Game – 2nd Battle of Winchester

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It’s 9pm on Monday 15th June and General Ewell is holding a briefing with Brigadiers Stuert, Elzey, Taylor, Trimble and Burk.

Gentleman, well fought yesterday and today. At the first battle of Front Royal we broke Sullivan’s brigade and overran a battery.

Today General Banks retreated with Kimball’s brigade and the remaining two artillery batteries to Middletown. The three regiments of Tyler’s brigade fought a staunch rearguard action for several hours covering the retreat but we eventually overwhelmed them and they raised the white flag and put down their arms. The survivors have gone into the bag and we will march them off with the other prisoners to captivity in Staunton.

Stuert, you are to take the the captured 12 pounders and replace your 6 pounders. I want all of you to rearm your brigades with the rifles from these 10 Union regiments, strip the boots and any other equipment you can. Burk, you are to remain here in Front Royal, build bastions covering the road to Milltown for your guns and Stuert’s. The rest of us will board the trains to Strasburg at dawn. We march for Winchester to join Jackson!

Feed the men… let them rest as they have fought hard but time is short…. Jackson needs us.

Ewells 4 brigades have trained to Strasburg and marched to Kernstown.

Ewell looked from the tower of the church in Kernstown to the north at the camp fires of a large Union Army camped around Winchester. He had considered retiring on Strasburg but a courier from Jackson had found him. Jackson had attacked Winchester, found a much larger Union force there than he had anticipated and retired north west to Capon bridge. It had cost him a brigade. He had beaten off a Union attack and was marching to join our attack on Winchester as we had planned.

Ewell turns to his waiting brigadiers.

‘Gentleman…it is 2am….Jackson is marching to us…let us begin’.

So begins the final chapter in the Shenandoah Campaign…..

The 2nd Battle of Winchester.

The town of Winchester is in the center of the table with the table long edges being north on the right and south on the left. The road heading to the west is to Capon River, to the south is Kernstown, to the south east is Milltown.

Union forces at 2am!

Ewells brigades move out of Kernstown heading west to a wooded ridge. The brigades of Steuart and Elzey commanded by Stephen. The brigades of Trimble and Taylor follow under my command(Terry).

As the sky lightens we are moving along the ridgeline. Our plan is to hold the ridge, sweep through the valley behind it in cover and prepare for the arrival of Jackson and roll up the Union right flank. The open ground to the front of Winchester would be a graveyard to us when facing the Union artillery.

The Union pickets have spotted us and the various brigades are forming up in their encampments. There are a … few of them!

We decided to game this battle in ‘Epic’ scale, that is 13mm. We as a group have sufficient figures painted up now to start playing out the larger battles in this scale rather than the 28s.

Stephen’s 2 brigades have taken position on the wooded ridge extending back to Kernstown.

Rushing out of their encampments the Union move to block any intrusion down the Capon road.

A general advance from the many Union brigades.

The valley Trimble and Taylor were moving through turned out to be a wooded swamp….it supposedly had a track but it was a morass in disguise. Result being for the 11 turns played the 2 brigades didn’t move, or moved left or right…not really forward so a great opportunity was missed! I am blaming Goldie who the previous week had gifted me a new set of dice he received at the Valleycon convention. I suspect he knew they were cursed.

Union gunline facing the ridge and morass…I mean wooded valley.

View of Trimbles troops who have manfully advanced in the swamp…..while Taylor’s Louisiana’s who you would thought would have felt at home in a swamp are still getting lost.

There is quite a few blue bellies in front of them by now.

But…. Jackson’s cavalry have arrived! Hopefully the infantry are close behind.

Union troops attack the hinge…..should have taken them out of the trays for photo…but…you get the picture.

Attack goes in on Kernstown!

Trimble’s troops has managed to move through the morass into lightly wooded terrain and can start some shooting!

Oh dear……Union columns arrive down road from Milltown!!

The attack on the hinge continues.

Jackson arrives with Winder’s brigade leading the way.

And straight into the exposed flank, sadly its an attack on flank of 3 regts, but when I charge in with a unit to the now pinned unit we should win this one…..yep….failed roll…failed reroll as well.

Meanwhile…still stuck in the morass……

The attack on Kernstown has failed and the attacking brigade has broken.

And that was the end of 11 turns of the 2nd battle of Winchester. There are 6 turns left so we agreed to continue in 2 saturday’s. Below is the game ready to carry on. We set up Friday night so could roll first dice at 9am.

The combat on the Union right flank was resolved to the Confederate advantage. Goldie has taken over command in this sector after being unwell for the first game.

I decided to do silly things and pin Union units to allow Jackson to consolidate his flank attack and get his second brigade on. Elsewhere SteveT had also been AWOL for the first game…some tropical island so he was well rested and I gave him the morass dwelling Louisiana’s…who promptly stared obeying orders…..its just embarrassing.

Jackson is rolling up the flank.

The hinge has held…somehow…..the troops there were the best we had and that really helped.

The Milltown arrivals are advancing… the blue dots differentiated them from the surviving brigade there. This had blundered earlier on and took some time to get its back together.

Several small Union brigades have popped and my brigade is getting close to joining them….the 6 turns Russ(Umpire) has turned into 7….I am hoping that doesn’t cost me.

Union line is a bit beaten up……..

10 Union regts advancing towards the ridgeline.

Jackson sent in a wave if attacks….Union line broke.

Game over……. Union flank is in tatters.

Confederates still have 6 regts and 2 batteries holding Kernstown/ridge line with Taylors 5 regts moving to support.

The hinge has held until the end!!

So that was the end of the 2nd Battle of Winchester.

18 turns and 1 and a half days of gaming.

This is the conclusion of the Shenandoah campaign with the Union retiring on Harpers Ferry and the Umpire announcing a Confederate Victory.

I have asked Russ to write up a small article on his thoughtson the running of the campaign which I hope to bring to you in the future.

That’s it for now… Terry out.

ACW Campaign Game # 5 – Front Royal

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Last weekend Game # 4, the battle of Winchester was fought …I was not there, it was fought at the club. I believe at the end of it the survivors of 3 Confederate Brigades had retired over a river and 6 or 7 Union Brigades were coming for them. Best not mention it again!

So yesterday we fought game #5 of the Campaign in the Garage for control of Front Royal.

The map for the game is within the Yellow zone. The Union have 2 large brigades(15 regiments) 3 large batteries in emplacements to the East of South Fork. They are deployed from just north of North Fork joining the river to the woods south of Front Royal.

Three Confederate brigades arrive from Strasburg(13 regiments, 3 batteries by train and advance from south of the North Fork. On Turn 4, 2 more brigades(each of 4 regiments and a battery) arrive in the south from Luray. The The 2nd Virginia Cavalry arrived on turn 1.

Set up is below. Players are Robert and Alan on left(Union), Russ in center(Umpire) and the 2 Confederate players on the right, Steve and Rob. The Game is 8 turns long.

Center of battlelines.

Large batteries in emplacements are quite devastating!

The only cavalry at the battle was the 2nd Virginia who set off around the Union left flank. They succeeded in drawing off Union Regiments!

Rear Union battery, the infantry unit beside it has turned to prepare for the cavalry arriving.

The Union battery in the center had a charmed life. It passed 4 or 5 break tests during the battle while continuing to inflict considerable damage each turn.

Rob’s brigades took hits all game, shook them off and kept firing!

The combined firepower of 3 batteries could not silence that Union battery. They are 6 pounder guns so were out ranged but hung in there.

These gallant ladz took 3 hits from a battery…needed 6’s to avoid casualties….made of stern stuff!

Turn 4 and I finally get to arrive on a Battlefield in the campaign! The Church is a 20mm I commissioned Alan to print for me.

Down the other end Steve and Robert continue to trade fire.

And that darn battery is still holding on!

The Union left where Alan has moved his second line onto the woods to cover the arrivals from the South.

The second brigade arrived which I invited Russ to take command of and join in.

The Cavalry were destroyed….but they pulled Union regiments out of position…Robert was very keen to place these dead horses…..

Hmmmmm… 2 Union brigades apparently are arriving down the road from Middletown…how many brigades do the Union have!

My brigade is pining Union while Russ attempts to get around the ridge to their rear. Running out of turns!

Steve has reacted to the new arrivals by pulling back his brigade…he was winning the fire so a frustrating moment.

Center of lines….a number of units have taken heavy damage….

Lunch break…it was Steve’s Birthday so he bought a long a luvly cake! We found some candles for him to blow out.

The last 2 turns flew by…as often happens once in action I forget to take photos….doh.

So below… Russ managed to get his artillery onto table and helped to destroy the Union battery. I shot up a Union regiment who retired allowing me to charge flank of another in last turn…..then hit it in the front with another…they lost the combat but stayed! Another Union regiment in south end of ridge was flank charged by Russ and lost the combat…and a follow me by the brigade commander carried another regiment into the rear of a Union regiment who had retired from woods. Then another failed a break test so in all 3 Union regiments popped…another retired whipped from shooting and the battery popped. What a great last couple of turns!!!

So the Union left flank is now gone, we have 2 Fresh brigades ready to roll up the Union lines as Darkness Falls.

Advancing Union brigade down Middletown road. A rife bttn of Louisiana Tigers is skirmishing in the woods.

And the award for Unit of the day goes too that Union Artillery battery on that hill!

Well that was great fun…….and was nice to finally roll some dice in the campaign. We will leave it to the Umpire to determine if there is a day 2 to this battle.

The Whisky of the week this week is the Ardbeg 8 ‘For Discussion’.

Review found is:

Ardbeg 8 Year Old “For Discussion” (originally an Ardbeg Committee Release) is an intensely smoky, cask-strength Islay single malt. Matured in ex-sherry casks and bottled at 50.8% ABV without chill-filtration, it offers a bolder, more savoury, and traditional profile compared to the distillery’s standard 10-year-old.

Ardbeg are an acquired taste as they are powerful tasting drops that are like drinking cigars. I found this one extremely easy to sip while watching F1 last night by the fire. Its definitely a winter drink! Recommended.

Until next time.. Terry out.

May 2026 – Franco-Prussian War Game

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Decided needed game to destress from work so organized quick game with Goldie/Keith/Alan as they like me have the figures for FPW. Goldie pulled out sick so was 3 of us.

Half the photo’s haven’t work so will be a quick report!

French right flank……I was leap frogging units forward to cover up the shot up front line units while recovered morale on damaged ones. have managed to clear most of the Prussian units on this flank.

Alan’s center looking towards the French right(me).

Bad guys right flank.

Center…..baddies had charged…. twice and been bounced both times…good shooting and better combat rolls!

End of game…..edge of playing area is the French battery on right…moving gun line and leap frogging of units to repair the damaged one worked…but was verrryyy close. Thankfully have popped/damaged enough guns/troops to have advantage .

On Keith’s French left more of a stalemate…..Keith has his guns and to far back…….while Alan has his guns in front line!

Sorry about lack of photo’s…will check them next time! Fun game…quite relaxed…..we re getting familiar with out rule adjustments and gives better feel…hopefully next time Goldie’s troops will be available and my slooooowwwww addition to French side will continue. Alan got some attacks in….was unlucky with the dice rolls…….but good to see some charges getting up.

Bavarian Miniatures have a French Kickstarter that will buy into…and Alan being a good man will print the STL’s! Can’t wait!! has all the Imperial Garde goodies include din it….AWESOME

Until next time.

ACW Campaign Game # 3 – Kernstown

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So its Game # 3 – I am still not in combat…..and found myself on lunch duty as Anita deserted me for the day……so took pictures of game when could.

Below is view of campaign map for Confederates on Turn 5.

I was in Front Royal until 6 Union Brigades advanced from Strasburg so I retired to Lurray…hastily. Its a 2 Brigade a turn road so I have dug in. After Strasburg Confederate units retired on Wardens and Woodstock. The crazed individual that is Stonewall Jackson has decided to advance on Winchester via Kernstown, while Confederate forces from the battle of Moorefield have been advancing to meet him there. The Union have the interior lines and hold Strasburg, Front Royal, Kernstown and Winchester with troops marching to Kernstown as well.

Start of game, the masses of Union troops are on the eastern side of table with 2 Confederate brigades plus cavalry have arrived from the East planning to exit in the North towards Winchester.

Confederates seem to have thrown their plan out the window and advance on the Union troops(you will note the Confederate artillery is awol…they are elsewhere).

The Union are looking at a lovely exposed flank.

Union artillery starts inflicting pain.

Union start the move around the exposed flank.

Dear oh dear… Goldie is fielding units with out command bases and flags!(I have given him the figures and flags….shame on him).

Union troops advance to pin enemy while flank forces move up.

Union cavalry skirmishing behind Confederate line.

The ‘Role up the flank’ order kicks in.

A successful role up….Confederate brigades attempt to exit to the North

Its not a pretty picture is it.

Confederate troops managed to exit the table heading towards Winchester. The next day will show what is left…and what is pursuing them….so looks like next battle is Winchester.

I am considering moving my troops to Richmond……

Whisky of the week is a wee beauty.

GlenDronach Cask Strength Batch10.

I can’t recall if its Whisky Club or Whisky Society supplied.

Tasting notes are :

Colour: Chesnut Brown

Nose: Mocha. apricot and baked orange chocolate cake, with roasted almond, walnut and raisin on a base of aromatic toasted oak.

Palate: Richly spiced fruitcake with nectarine, dark cherry and honeyed sultana.

Finish: Lingering ripe apricot layered with ginger jam indulgent caramelised date.

Wow….that’s a long list of attributes. I have sampled a number of GlenDronach expressions, have 3 others on the whisky trolley as well and this would be my favorite after the GlenDronach 21 Parliament…. a truly awesome whisky.

That’s it for now….happy days…Terry

April 2026 – Ancients Hail Caesar game

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Another Hail Caesar game was played while the practice game was fresh in our minds.

Republican and Imperial Rome took on Carthage and Macedon.

Armies were roughly 400 points for each player.

View from Roman side.

Macedonian skirmishers blundered and charged!

My Imperials…was moving the Auxilia for woods….they didn’t really want to move sadly. Rest of Macedonians are catching up.

In center and right was battle of the skirmishers.

Now that looks great below…..Republicans in their small units in the checkerboard. Heavy infantry and warbands moving to engage…the games have the right look and feel.

Skirmishers looking to pepper the Elephants.

The Carthaginian Army is an attractive one…very well painted!

Let battle commence!.

I really like the look of the game……other gaming systems don’t ‘do it’ for me….but below is how I always imagined a battle should look.

Smash……Roman Maniple system faces a testing time.

Macedonian Pike Phalanx clash with the Legionnaires. The combats between them are quite even but the Legionnaires had more and better supports….attrition got to the Pikes.

On the other flank it was also a battle of attrition…the maniples being small are quit fragile if you can’t swap them out of combat before they ‘pop’.

I managed to get an auxilia unit into flank of Pike block and it ‘popped’. The shaken Legion unit then withdrew behind its support.

Pikes destroyed….as are supporting skirmishers…..elite cavalry unit in rear was getting shot by the bolt thrower and forced back disordered.

Its getting messy …… units are withdrawing…popping …sustaining casualties.

Auxilia charged the cavalry in flank…who then turned to face….and legionnaire unit then hit them in flank. FLANKS.

The grinding down the Macedonians continues.

I had thought the Republicans were toast as last time I checked they looked in dire position…somehow…… from the jaws of defeat…….

End of Game….Macedonians pulling back…..Carthaginians are joining them.

Nice picture of Republicans…lovely paint job.

So that was that… an attractive looking game…..more lessons learned…..more rules understood…..more units now will get painted…….I think we all enjoying this change of period. We are working out the shooting from skirmishers is VERY IMPORTANT…..you need supports…flank and rear…..makes army list selection even more critical…all great fun.

Until next time.. Terry out.

April 2026 – ACW Campaign Game # 2 Strasburg

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So a 2nd battle has been generated in the campaign.

On a sunny Autumn Saturday the group gathered in my garage to play it. My better half deserted me for the day so I was on catering duty.

Thankfully….I have a large driveway to accomodate my guests!

The crew are below, Steve T was late and missed the photo session.

The battle was fought at Strasburg. The Union held the town, the Confederates launched an attack from Woodstock with troops marching from Wardens having moved there from the victory at Moorefield in battle # 1. A Confederate force had been at Front Royal but had retired to Lurray when attacked by 6 Union brigades who are presumably still at Front Royal.

The movement limitations are:

Confederate battery sets up on low hill facing Strasburg. It is a light smoothbore battery… 4 barrels..range 36 inches….beside town is a Union 3 inch battery… 6 barrels…..60 inch range…do the math(more than 36 inches apart).

The terrain has low hills…river…streams….open areas and… trees……most Union troops have rifles…24 inch range….Confederates … muskets….18 inches…..you can move once and still shoot….movement is 12 inches in open. Again, do the math.

Goldie in his gaming shirt of many year’s..it’s designed to ruin your concentration……more Union troops have arrived……

Lunch…….there had been quite a feast…..lovely warm day…..

Jackson has arrived on left flank from Wardens after forced march from Moorefield/Wardens.

Confederates have decided as it is a campaign….and odds of getting serious casualties are high…..with drawl is the best option……so below Union are moving after the retiring Confederates….

So that was that…….Confederates have retired from abortive advance on Strasburg….and both sides live to fight another day…..

Interesting result as in a normal one day game both sides would have just ‘gone at it’. But, its a campaign……and so pragmatic approach taken by Confederates.

April 2026 – Epic ACW Game # 1

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In a change from ACW being played in 28mm , some of the group have been squireling away painting(or printing and painting in Alans case)at the Epic(13mm) scale.

With enough now painted for a game Alan hosted our first game.

So 3 Union and 4 Confederate Commanders gathers for a 1st game. Alan had procured some new cloths from Temu as base cloths…looked good. All terrain printed/made by Alan.

Rebel force used by Rob (All Printed/painted by Alan).

We made the brigades all 4 regts. Each regt we have were 3 bases rather than the 5 in the Warlord Games boxes. Will will use 2 or 4 as required in games but 5 just take up to much space for the games we want to play in this scale.

Some of my ladz. I have enjoyed painting these.

Alans cheating…printing greatcoated chaps!

Robert and Russ fought at one end with the cavalry that has been painted. Lots more to come!

More China sourced add on’s…casualty counters and some yellow triangles with ! on them…we used as disorders.

The cavalry seemed to fight all game…….

I do like the feel this this size for bigger battles.

Alan has added lots of buildings he has printed/painted and woods(Temu).

In foreground Stephens troops…has painted butternut coloured Florida units for some variety….looked great. Alan has also made some small casualty counter similar to the Hail Caesar ones….. he ordered red dice…..got orange……Temu.

More Union advancing.

End of game(Thursday night…some of us are still working so finished 10ish).

So that was the first game in Epic scale. We got to move some troops around…were some combats…shooting…and play around with moving/shooting ranges etc. I enjoyed it…looked very good!!

March 2026 – Hail Caesar practice game

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As we are planning a Hail Caesar campaign next year based on the ‘Pyrrhic Wars’ period we had a wee taster game to have a play with the rules as ‘Ancients’ has not been a major play period for us(am ignoring those who play DBMM).

So I had 6 players around yesterday for a practice.

Armies in use were:

  • Carthaginian(Alan)
  • Macedonian Successor(Keith)
  • Ptolemaic(Russ)
  • Alexandrian Macedonian(Rob)
  • Republican Rome(Goldie)
  • Early Imperial Rome(Robert)

The 2 sides were Alan/Keith/Russ v Robert/Goldie/Rob.

Below is Alans Carthaginians.

Keith’s Macedonians….they blundered their first order and decided to retire…..

Russ’s Ptolemaic’s with pet crocodile awaiting Rob.

Robs force was a cobbled together from differing collections….Macedonians/Hoplites and Spanish.

Goldies Republicans.

Republican cavalry.

Rob’s Phalanx awaiting Russ advance.

Russ had his escape planned early.

Lovely painted Victrix figures…the crocodile is positioning for a flank attack.

Keith sends cavalry in against skirmishers who took the charge….they popped….

then the cavalry continued into the Hastati’s….our first encounter with them…..their special rules on swapping units in battle is….annoying.

Cavalry on flanks doing what cavalry on flanks do…..sorting out who is the best.

Goldie formed a Roman blob…oh for a mortar.

Combined Carthaginians and Macedonian cavalry take on Republican Roman cavalry.

Moorish light cavalry v Imperial Romans on flank..exactly as it should be!

The cavalry fights were … interesting…..

Yet more cavalry combats with a Roman Division also moving up.

The infantry battles were fights of attrition……the differing troops types made it interesting as players try and maximize supports.

We played the Hoplites as Pikes….they were grinding down the Ptolemaic’s by the end.

Fun… Russ left early to go watch a Rugby Game at the Stadium…..so I played a couple of turns at end….positioned the Elephants to charge flank of Romans….but before had chance to launch them..Rob finally got the Spanish cavalry to move…and they smashed a light infantry unit and carried on into the flank of the Elephants…who are allowed to turn and face them…cavalry don’t like fighting Elephants…they lost and we both retired!

And they was the end…..the Cathaginians were going okay… Keith’s Hoplites discovered Republican Roman infantry are tricky…his cavalry had a lot of fun though….and the Ptolemaic’s were in deep…deep trouble….on the other side….Rob was punching through the Ptolemaic’s now that his Spanish infantry has decided to move up…..and Robert was going okay against the Cathaginians…lots of shooting…combats…..

So lessons were learned…..was good as a rule refresher and now we can start having more regular games to get the hang of the game. I used the Army Builder from Lone Wolf to generate Army Lists.

That’s all for now…Terry out.

February 2026 ACW Campaign Game #1 – Moorefield

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After several turns of maneuvering we have our first battle of the Campaign!

The Union are holding the town of Moorefield with the Confederates attacking it.

The Union force in Moorefield is commanded by BG Louis Blenker and has the following forces:

  • BG Schencks(Alan) Brigade: 4 regts + Rigbys battery Indiana light artillery
  • Col Cluserets Brigade(Goldie)- 2 Regts + Battery G West Virgina light artillery
  • Col Dickels(Goldie) Cavalry attachment – 2 Regts cavalry, all Tiny units

On Turn 2 BG Milroy’s(Keith) brigade of 4 Regts + 12th battery, Ohio light artillery will march in on the road from Wardens.

The Union briefing and set up instructions is below.

The Confederate’s are attacking from Upper Tract where part of Jacksons Division with the Brigades of Fulkerson and Conner with SteveC in charge.

  • 3rd Fulkersons Brigade – 4 regts + Carpenters battery
  • 4th Conners Brigade – 3 Regts + Carringtons Virginia battery

Ashby’s 7th Cavalry Brigade with 3 small Regts and Chews Virginia battery of Horse Artillery commanded by Rob.

On turn 2 PaulW would arrive on the battlefield from Woodstock with not only the 1st Brigade of the Stonewall Division but the man himself!

The Confederate briefing and set up is below. Ashby’s troopers had been scouting the area and the Confederates were aware of the Union positions and the troops marching from Wardens.

The table is set up below from South to North.

Schenck’s Brigade below.

Cluseret’s Brigade is in Moorefield with a battery in a redoubt beside it, with skirmishing cavalry linking to the 2nd battery in a redoubt elevated commanding the center of the table.

Confederates march onto the battlefield. Ashby’s cavalry are on the left flank, then Conner and Fulkerson on the right.

Milroy’s brigade marches onto battlefield.

Jackson marches on…..much to the Union players surprise!! It’s like the French Imperial Guard appearing on your flank……

They flood forward……..

Schencks troops retire to consolidate position.

2 Tiny Union cavalry units stayed in front of the Confederate lines and were extremely difficult to move.

Lunch time and although we had all bought food along, Alans wife Joni prepared a feast for us!

The large Union batteries were effective…..the Union players didn’t agree but they were consistently disordering units and inflicting casualties….and being redoubts was difficult to inflict casualties on. The redoubts are 3 sided…we just didn’t bring them along(as we didn’t know about them).

Troops in buildings with artillery in cover makes for a difficult target to get to.

Over on the flank the dismounted cavalry were fighting it out. Thankfully….this distracted Milroy as planned so he was unable to support Schenck.

Jacksons troops in combat with Schencks. This combat went on for a number of turns.

The join point of Fulkerson and Winders brigades where the Union cavalry has finally been driven off.

Schenck is holding on and a regt from Milroy has arrived to assist.

The dismounted cavalry fight is over and the surviving troops of Ashby have been driven off, but without Ashby who was captured in a combat.

Schenk’s brigade has fled the field.

The brave 25th Ohio regt of Milroy’s brigade that rushed to their assistance is about to suffer the cost…..

The flank of redoubts were now open….

and both batteries were destroyed.

The death of the 25th Ohio…..

The remaining Union forces withdrew from the field of battle.

So a decisive Confederate Victory. I must say if was harder for the Confederates than I expected with Winders flank attack stalling against dismounted Union cavalry…the guns in the redoubts kept the Confederates at bay and Schenck held on longer than I though he would. The sacrifice of Ashby and his cavalry tying up Milroy worked perfectly however.

Great game for first one of the campaign and big call out for Russell of organizing and running a superb campaign.

Now, Summer has been a non event for us with the weather being generally awful. However, this month I had a 2 week break and Anita and I went and stayed up north in Whangamata which as expected was sunny, warm and the water was great! Anita had also accepted a new position so I celebrated with a Whisky purchase while I was there.

Below is the Tomatin 18.

Reviews say:

An 18 year old finished in Oloroso sherry butts…..Nose….rich and sherried…citrus and died fruit….palate……sweet…..fruit cake….chocolate….Finish…llloonngggg and warming spice and I will add…Oily …..in a pleasant way……an inspired purchase.

Sigh…will pop upstairs and enjoy one now….. happy days… Terry out!

So what will 2026 bring?

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Welcome to 2026…..

The group met for a ‘Council of War’ to decide on how we would structure any Campaigns for the next couple of years and review troop stocks so ladz could decide if they needed/wanted to add troops for upcoming events.

As a result upcoming campaigns are:

  • ACW Fire in the Shenandoah May 1862
  • Napoleonic 1813
  • Pyrrhic
  • Dark Ages

The ACW campaign is already underway with Russ running it and we are on Turn 2.Map is below. The Union players are Robert/Keith/Goldie/Alan and the Confederates Paul/Steven/Stephen/Rob and me(Terry).

The Napoleonic 1813 campaign will be our 3rd one and Paul will be running this in the second half of the year.

The Pyrrhic and Dark Ages campaigns are for 2027.

And to show the Gods of War are happy with these choices Warlord Games have just released a new book in their ‘Hail Caesar’ series entitled’ The Pyrrhic Wars’!

Within the group we have armies of:

  • Republican Rome
  • Carthage
  • Alexandrian Macedonian
  • Successor Macedonian
  • Pyrrhic

Additionally there are Early Imperial Roman Armies(that’s me….have way to many of them) and some Spanish. But then…campaigns have a way of spawning armies so who knows what will be added by next year!

The Dark Ages is tentatively 900AD to 1200AD and looks to be Normans/Byzantines/Arabs etc.

Tucked in among these campaigns will be the regular games and several ‘BFG’s are planned. The ‘BFG’ is a ‘Big ******* Game’ and these are those in the past such as out Waterloo 2015 game at the Wellesley Club, the Leipzig game and the Borodino games. A BFG that was held before these was a Gettysburg game on Christchurch which I did not attend… so mid year our plan is to play a 2 day BFG Gettysburg when our local club the Warlords has a 2 day gaming weekend at the club venue, The Johnsonville Club.

The 2nd BFG which will be in 2027 is a Normandy 1944 breakout rumble using 12mm scale.

So lots happening………

There will be updates through the year …..

Very excited.

Now rather than a whisky, as it is summer(well occasionally…when it hasn’t rained) I have been drinking Ginger beers from the Hawkes Bay Brewing Company .

The Ginger Fusion is a 5% alc/vol infused with mandarin. Its a beauty.

Then there is my favorite thirst quencher after a session in the garden. The Spiced Ginger Beer has been infused with Cinnamon and Chili and is truly amazing!!

That’s all for now….. Terry out.