Tabletop Germantown 2016

It's time for my Military History class to take what they've learned from their theoretical readings (Clausewitz and Sun Tzu) and their reading about their first case study (The Philadelphia Campaign of 1777, in which our school played a minor role) and take it to the tabletop and try to win a battle.

This year, we were using my 15mm AWI troops and a set of rules that echoes Black Powder, but embraces many concepts of the house rules my club regularly plays with. 

Washington advances up Germantown Pike towards the Chew House. Like the historical general, he decided to engage the Light Bobs garrisoned there rather than plunge ahead to the main British lines.

The main British force in Germantown. A smallish game this year, as I only have six students in the class.

The battlefield from the south. Though our school moved out of Germantown in the 1960's we are still along  the banks of the Wissahickon Creek, which lies on the left.

The British commanders talk tactics.

While the Yanks dice to see when the other wings of Washington's force arrive.  As it turns out, the Game Washington was much more lucky with the timing of his attack than the historical Washington was.  This proved to be a decisive factor in the outcome, as the British elite reserve took its sweet time arriving.

The troops on Washington's  far left were able to encircle Germantown. Historically, these militia units (meant to be a diversion) never showed up.

The British commander committed the whole  Hessian force to stop Armstrong's Pennsylvania militia on the Continental far right. In the post-game analysis, the British commanders realized that they should have sent one unit to delay these troops while sending most of their force to hold the center.

Teenage generals are often impatient.  Much of the British line advanced north to meet the continentals, rather than wait for them to fight on ground of their choosing.

The Chew House served as a minor speed bump, and with their reinforcements arriving early, the Continentals were able to engage a smaller British force just north of Germantown.

When the British elites finally arrived, they found some Virginia line waiting for them.  To make matters worse, a botched command roll meant that the columns of soldiers had to take enfilade fire down the length of their column for two turns.

Can it get worse for the British? With utterly abysmal dice rolls, anything is possible! The Hessian move across the Wissahickon met with disaster, and despite the best efforts of their Jagers, the longer ranges of the militia rifles proved telling 

Washington starts to strut as he rides triumphantly into Germantown.

Run away!

The Nerd Club hosts the Normals

Every year, our school allows members of the community to host mini-assemblies.  This year, clubs were encouraged to share their enthusiasms with their peers. The Leland Society (named after former student and American proto-nerd Charles Godfrey Leland), also known as "The Nerd Club," hosted a variety of nerdy games. We had Settlers of Catan, King of New York, and a game of X-Wing (which I ran).

Pilots of the Galactic Empire

And their rebel scum counterparts

King of New York on the left. On the right, a maze game with mirrors and lasers.

The guys were really getting into Settlers.  It took only a few minutes for the jokes about sheep and "woods" to come out.

The Falcon and Po Dameron took advantage of an  uncoordinated Imperial attack.

Overall, the kids had a blast. Rumor had it that  the nerds put on the best show.  But we all knew that, didn't we?

Been a long time

It's been too long since I posted here.  I've been keeping my nerdy self busy since last fall: adding zombies to my 28mm fantasy collection and testing out some rules I wrote with Germantown Academy's Leland Society (aka "Nerd Club"), whipping up some 28mm WWII Americans and Germans ("teaching tools for my Military History class," if anyone asks), painting up 15mm Stormtroopers and Rebel scum, and adding a few Napoleonic odds and ends.  Despite that rush of activity, I've been too lazy to post any of it online.

Then, last week, after many weeks of dormancy and scheduling conflicts, I was able to game with the Ambler Gamers once more.  Last week's game was AWI, with a Franco-American force trying to hold three bridges against the British and Hessians.  Kind of an 18th century "Bridge Too Far."  Joe had the Game Cave tidied up, with a full table ready to go.

Below, the American regulars and militia prepare to head off the  main British thrust.

Above, my French, whose mission was to secure one of the bridges.  Their left flank was to be secured by a brigade of American troops.  As fate would have it, these same Yanks helped the Hessians to improve their marksmanship by catching unfortunate amounts of lead.  The French performed capably, thanks to Steve's ice-cold dice, but thanks to their exposed flank, stood no chance of holding their ground.

(Below) While Scott plans his advance, Joe shows Herb his Hessian brigades.  These naughty little sausage eaters would prove to be my bane. 

We had some special guests at our game--two gentlemen looking to produce a show for the Discovery network which would explain famous historical battles with the use of military miniatures.  We were happy to share with them our particular brand of nerdy goodness.

Revolutionary Germantown 2015

A fun day out with the kids and  the Children of the American Revolution.  The damp weather kept the crowds away,but the soldiers provided an engaging show with drama mixed with light moments.  The American  gun was trained on our exact position, and even though they were firing blanks and I had a line of Redcoats to catch any grapeshot, I still felt intimidated.

Welcome back to school 2016: A Close Run Thing

Like many schools, the school where I teach has a summer reading programs. Unlike most other schools, my school allows individual teachers to choose a book of interest to them. Then, on the second day after the end of summer vacation, the students engage in a day full of activities related to their book. This year, a colleague and I offered Iain Gale's Four Days in June. This historical novel tells the story of Waterloo from several different perspectives, and the students seemed to have enjoyed it. In the morning we showed the film and talked about why things were the way they were in regards to weapons, uniforms, and tactics. Then, in the afternoon, we brought out my collection of 28mm Napoleonics, and we fought a scaled-down version of the battle ourselves.

Team France. They look cheerful and enthusiastic. If they only knew what lay ahead...

Team Britain/Prussia.  Since the book focused largely on the Hougoumont and the arrival of the Prussians, those were the key elements in this game.

Due to bad command rolls and general timidity, the French advance was very slow.  An uncoordinated, piecemeal attack didn't work in 1815, and, dammit, it wasn't going to work a century later.

The French did manage a few breakthrough moments, as when the heavy cavalry made a hole i n the center of the British line, however, without infantry or artillery to support it (sound familiar?) the British soon plugged the hole in their lines.

Fighting raged around the Hougoumont all game.  While French artillery scored some early hits on the chateau. the defenders and their supporting units were able to hold on.

Due to some truly crappy dice rolling, the Prussians failed to appear on the field at all.  This meant that, despite their success in other sectors, Wellington's left had to beat a fighting retreat to the center of the field.  When we ended the fame, the Anglo-Allied army held the center, though a few more turns of French attack (who had finally managed to coordinate) might have made a difference.

And now the eye candy...

Good heavens, sir! The French are going to advance right across Mr. Trump's hair!

How hard can it be to capture one chateau?

My armies are painted for the Peninsula. Playing the role of the Prussians are some Portuguese infantry and Spanish cavalry and artillery.