Battle Cry 150th Civil War Anniversary Edition

Wizards of the Coast recently released a revised edition of Richard Borg's Battle Cry to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War. 

I stumbled across this game today and caught it on sale and had to get a copy. Lots of new artwork on the box, rulebook, map board, and terrain tiles. The map and terrain colors are washed out and look more natural. Don't get me wrong - I thought the old version looked good.

Another bonus - the game includes a Jackson campaign and 13 new scenarios in addition to the now "classic" scenarios. There's a lot of 1861 battles and some more western theater scenarios. Another plus - they changed 'The Battle of Chickamunga' to 'The Battle of Chickamauga'. I always wondered how that one slipped by the editor. 

I copied the scenario lists from Board Game Geek's page on the Battle Cry 150th Civil War Anniversary Edition and posted them below:


Classic Battle Cry Battles

* First Bull Run--21st July, 1861
* Pea Ridge--7th March, 1862
* Kernstown--23rd March, 1862
* Shiloh--6th April, 1862
* Gaines Mill--27th June, 1862
* Brawner's Farm--28th August, 1862
* Antietam--17th September, 1862
* Fredericksburg--13th December, 1862
* Murfreesboro--31st December, 1862
* Gettysburg--2nd July, 1863
* Gettysburg--3rd July, 1863
* Chickamauga--20th September, 1863
* New Market--15th May, 1864
* New Hope Church--25th May, 1864

Jackson Campaign

* McDowell, Virginia - May 8 1862
* Winchester, Virginia - May 25 1862
* Cedar Mountain, Virginia - August 9 1862

150th Civil War Anniversary Edition Battles

* Falling Waters, West Virginia - July 2, 1861
* Wilson's Creek, Missouri (Bloody Hill) - August 10 1861
* Greenbrier River, West Virginia - October 3 1861
* Belmont, Missouri - November 7 1861
* Dranesville, Virginia - December 20 1861
* Fort Donelson, Tennessee (Confederate Breakout) - February 15 1862
* Little Sugar Creek, Arkansas - February 17 1862
* Williamsburg, Virginia (North of Fort Magruder) - May 5 1862
* Oak Grove, Virginia - June 25 1862
* Richmond, Kentucky (Union Final Position) - August 30 1862
* Ox Hill, Virginia - September 1 1862
* Perryville, Kentucky - October 8 1862
* Prarie Grove, Arkansas - December 7 1862

World War II Skirmish Games

I was a big fan of Easy Eight's Battleground World War II that came out in 1997. It was a fun skirmish game that used the d20 and a card activation mechanic. It had a lot of detail. In short, a miniature got to take two actions (move, shoot, etc) and a typical scenario probably matched two platoons against each other. The game could handle a few vehicles on the table as well. Vehicle combat wasn't overly complicated, despite the vehicle hit charts.  In fact, I don't think the indirect fire rules for off-board artillery were too bad either.


I never played the game with 28mm figures, but I purchased a few on the cheap a couple of years ago in the hopes of trying out the game with some tweaks to the ranged combat mechanics. After all the years spent absorbing the D&D d20 system, I think there may be a better way to do what Easy Eight had in mind. 

Warlord Games has recently released Operation Squad: World War Two.  I am curious to see what the authors have come up for the period. The 46-page softcover appears to be limited to infantry battles and combat seems to revolve around the addition or subtraction of d6s. 


Between the two game systems, with maybe a healthy dose of stolen ideas from Crossfire (Arty Conliffe's company-level WW2 game) and Flames of War, I may get those 28mm WW2 figures painted and on the tabletop in 2011.

Welcome to Scrape

Dungeon Magazine #16 (going all the way back to early 1989) has one of best adventures you will find in that magazine in the last days of 1st Edition Dungeons & Dragons. Technically, 2nd Edition had already been released, but I believe the 1st Edition adventures appeared for several of the bi-monthly issues afterward. The game editions were close enough that a little conversion wasn't too much work. But I digress...

So, what was so great about this particular issue? In a word: Vesicant. That's the name of the adventure and the name of its main villain, a young green dragon with a penchant for magic items and an alliance with Scrape, a town of pirates (human, orc, and goblin). That's her on the cover (right), with the magic wand and the arcane blast of some kind. She was small, clever, and vicious. Vesicant relied on tricks and good tactics to take on the 4th-7th level characters that sought her doom. The idea was that if the dragon was removed, the pirates would be easier to handle.

That was another selling point, by the way - the lovely "mid-level" aspect of the adventure. It's when characters are strong enough to take on tougher monsters, but they cannot ignore the low-level monsters either. Once the characters got to 10th level or so, the low-level monsters just weren't challenging anymore - and you lose some taste to the game. 


Of course, Scrape was a great place to have a lot of role-playing with cloak & dagger perspectives. Without Scrape, the adventure just would not have made such an impression on me. An engaging urban environ that invites the characters to explore, talk, and fight with its inhabitants is always a plus - and Scrape was one of the best places for that.

The heroes just couldn't storm the town, they had to gather info from the port's power brokers so they pick up enough clues to find the dragon's hidden lair in the hills. The human, orcish, and goblin quarters of the town were fleshed out. There was a lot of follow-up adventures to be had in Scrape if you wanted to play them. Hooks were all over the place - the removal of Scrape's tyrant, the half-orc warlord Yorin and his ogre bodyguards could result in a civil war between the town's factions; the appearance of a duergar slaver indicated some trade relations with the Underdark; and a pair of evil elven mercenaries could have meant anything. 


In some ways, Scrape could have worked well as the larger environs of the classic D&D module A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity. I actually used Scrape as part of the Slave Lords' network of outposts. 


Much like I reminisce that Dragon #63 was an epiphany of my early gaming days, this magazine did much the same for me when I rediscovered my love for the game after a few years of hiatus.

British Army on the Eastern Fronts - World War I

I have been researching the British Empire's eastern conflicts of World War I/post-World War I. It has long been a favorite of mine, despite a lack of dedicated reading on my part. I am debating whether or not to explore Britain's 'Other Fronts' on the tabletop, especially in light of the ANZACs and Turks you can get these days: Gripping Beast offshoot, The Woodbine Design Company, offers WW I in the East range in 28mm, and HaT Industrie offers a good range in 1/72 scale plastic. 

I recently purchased Osprey's The British Army in World War I (3) - The Eastern Fronts (MAA 406), written and illustrated by Mike Chappell. Lots of good info on the campaigns from the Balkans, the Middle East, Africa, and Russia - and they give a lot of flavorful starting points for scenario or campaign designs. Of course, the book is great for working out the kind of figures one might need. I was pleased to see the typical early war 'ANZAC look' - felt hats, with or without shorts - had applicability beyond the Australians. Maybe the biggest thing to consider might be whether or not your tabletop British/Commonwealth/Dominion troops have newer/older equipment and weapons. I highly recommend this title.

Warlord Games to Release Ancients Ruleset

So it seems that Warlord Games is going to publish a ruleset for Ancients with Rick Priestley. Follow the link to check out some very cool pics of Middle Imperial Romans battling Sassanid Persians, painted by Dr. Phil Hendry. 

I don't know if the ruleset will use core mechanics from Black Powder, but I could see some ideas making the fit. I've already thought about how Black Powder (see right) might be a good way to wargame the Warring States of Japan, a period that normally fits in with medieval rules. A game system that focuses a bit more on melee that offers the kind of template-tweaks found in Black Powder might be a good way to approach the 'millennial system' (ie. Biblical to early Medieval) Warlord has planned.


While I cannot say that rules that cover everything from the age of chariots to the Hundred Years War are ideal, realistic, etc., I don't necessarily assume they are bad or not fun. I think there's a number of things that make a particular period or army distinct from others, and some of them probably get a glossing over. I review this kind of thing fairly often in Wargames Illustrated, and sometimes you just have to pick the game that best translates historical evidence (or even literary evidence) to your taste and understanding. Anyway, I'm curious what Warlord will come up with.
 

Black Powder: ACW

We played Black Powder using the Battle Cry game (hexboard terrain and plastic figures) and it seemed to go well. As much as it would have been nice to have seen a 4' x 8' table with about 200-250 figures per side, this was not a bad way to get our heads around the game mechanics.

I'm not sure yet what level of command is right for Black Powder in an ACW game, but the rather generic order of battle (general and 'brigade' commanders) gives them some versatility. We tried a scenario and set up straight from the Battle Cry rules: The Battle of Kernstown. This essentially gave the CSA three generals (Jackson as CIC plus two large brigades) and the Union two generals (no CIC and two large brigades). We will handle things differently when we base a game on historical accounts instead of just taking the pieces and deployment from Battle Cry, but it did what we really wanted to do - give us a better feeling for Black Powder.

We thought we should start out each army's infantry regiments in march column, which might have been a bit much considering their proximity. We learned that forcing troops to begin a scenario in march column can be really ugly - it only takes a failed command roll or two to leave them as sitting ducks even for long range fire. This is a very useful thing to keep in mind for certain ambush scenarios.

We used the Black Powder ACW sample scenario stats for our troops - ie. Rifled Muskets for infantry, Skirmish Order for dismounted cavalry, etc. One thing I think that might be worth adding to ACW scenarios for line infantry muskets is the use of First Volley (ie. the first volley is the best and later volleys tend to be less drilled affairs). Black Powder tends to assign that rule to earlier armies, but not ACW. Granted, my research into the period is limited compared to serious students of the period, but this is one of the things that leaps out of historical accounts I've read, lectures I've heard, and discussions I've had.

Another thing worth revisiting is how Black Powder handles woods and the ability of line infantry to traverse it. I think the sample scenario allows line infantry to temporarily assume skirmish order while in woods but resume regular formation upon exiting - I really need to double check that. We used that in our game, but there might be better ways of working this out. Maybe this should come from the terrain side of things - ie. the woods provide cover, slow movement, and block LOS, but they aren't thick enough to force skirmish order (with its inherent combat bonuses and penalties).  Regardless, the game is made for tweaking and I'm sure we'll come up with something that feels historically 'right' that can be played with minimum fuss.

A Bit of Thanks

Thanksgiving Day approaches and I thought I might share a few things with you folks about what I am grateful for in regards to history and gaming. 

I'm grateful for the folks who take the time to read my musings on this blog. I hope you find some value you in what you encounter here. 

Thanks, Chris Perkins!

I'm grateful for the historians, authors, and game designers whose talent and love for their callings really inspired me.

I'm grateful that I have had a chance to explore the world of game design/writing. I'd like to thank a number of editors that have played pivotal roles in this pursuit: Dave Gross, Chris Perkins, Jesse Decker, Mike McArtor, Wes Schneider, Rob Broom, Dan Faulconbridge, and Dave Taylor.

I'm grateful for the generosity and camaraderie of a number of historians, writers, and professional hobbyists: Guy Halsall, Neil Smith, Jim Graham, John Bianchi, Andy Hawes, Shane Grubb, and Heine Baekkelund (RIP).

I'm grateful for all the friends and loved ones that have sat at the gaming table with me through the years. I cherish those times.

Wargames Illustrated 278 (A Small Preview)

WI recently updated their site for the December 2010 issue; check out the preview here. This issue has a lot of samurai, a good dose of the ancient Mediterranean, and the Battle of Bussaco 1810. Of course, the WI website offers a lot of extras to support the magazine content on its home page.

I have not received my copy yet, but in the meantime, I can tell you that I have read a draft on the lead article, 'Sengoku Showdown'. It's a great way to jump into the era of Japan's Warring States - lots of good info and quite a bit of energy in the piece. WI's Dave Taylor asked me if I would be interested in supporting the article with a wargaming section and I jumped at the chance.

If you liked my series on 'Wargaming the Roman Army' (and even if you didn't), then check out my 'Wargaming the Carthaginians' in this issue. Dave and Dan had some good ideas for putting more/different gaming aspects into the article and I was quite happy with how it all turned out.


More later once I've had a chance to get the magazine in my hands.

FOW Project: 251/9 Cs

251/9 Cs before wheels, tracks, and guns.

The FOW summer project was put on hiatus, but I have put it back in action. No long sessions, but I put in a couple of hours this evening. The thing I have been dreading is my German 251/9 C models (the short barrel 75mm support vehicle). 

Why? Well, it seemed the front wheels would not fit well into the resin body. This was an easier fix than I expected - I just trimmed some of the lead wheel attachment piece. I also widened the resin body joint, but I think my time was better spent just working on the wheels. Not a hard project and I feel a little bit better about my very basic modeling skills. 

Regardless, this was no big problem to tackle and I can tell you I never had the wheel fit mismatch with the regular German halftracks. I called it a day on the 251s after attaching the tracks and guns and got started on the Flakpanzers (more on them later).

Some Classics on Classical Warfare

I do my best to find recent works when researching a given historical subject, but there's nothing wrong with relying on some old favorites - even if they are a little dated and have some flaws. I can hardly make better recommendations to someone starting a collection than John Warry's Warfare in the Classical World and Duncan Head's Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars.

I am hardly in a position to tell you what these authors got right or wrong from the perspective of a formal historical discipline. I can only really say that I've done more reading on the period since I acquired these titles in the early/mid 1990s and I think they missed a few points - or even broad strokes. 


Regardless, there's good nuts and bolts type of info to be found in both books (and lots of nice illustrations) that should be of some help for those building tabletop armies for the period and/or those just simply interested in the wars of Antiquity. 

Of course, don't overlook the bibliographies - especially the primary resources. Nothing like reading about the ancient world in the words of Caesar, Livy, or Ammianus Marcellinus.

Ammianus Marcellinus: The Siege of Amida

If you like wargaming the Late Roman period, I highly recommend Ammianus Marcellinus' history, The Later Roman Empire (AD 354 -378). He was a Greek officer who served in the Roman army during the mid-Fourth Century and offers a lot of anecdotes and personal perspectives on the era's politics and wars. The  heart of the work focuses much on the rise of Julian the Apostate.

The Persian siege of Amida is a great read. The assault against the Roman-held city walls has all the kind of punch you might associate with Speilberg's 'Saving Private Ryan'. Marcellinus really pulls you into the exchange of arrows, slingshot, and artillery missiles as the Persians try to take the city by escalade (ladders), earthen ramps, and siege towers. The city eventually falls after 73 days, but Marcellinus makes a narrow escape with a few other survivors. All kinds of game scenarios, big and small, suggest themselves from these pages. 

On an an army-building note, Marcellinus often refers to the barbarian clients/allies/mercenaries in service to the Persian King of Kings, Sapor. Unless I am mistaken, it kind of reads like Marcellinus was able to identify these Middle Eastern troops from 'true' Persians. Maybe an analogy might be to compare Roman troops and irregular auxiliaries. While I have never played a Sassanid Persian army (I have fought a few, at least on the tabletop), it did make me wonder what kind of possibilities there might be for them in miniatures. I'll admit, I have not done any manufacturer research on the army in years, but it seems whenever I see pics of Sassanid infantry, they often appear to be the standard levy lot. Sounds like I may need need to do some more digging around.

Normans in Ireland

I was quite pleased how my Normans in Ireland (the ca 1170 invasion) article turned out in Wargames Illustrated 277. Dan F did a fantastic job of translating the game scenario into tabletop pics and Matt Parkes did some pretty cool conversions for late 12th Century Normans - its kind of a transitional period between First Crusade and High Middle Ages for their armor and weapons. 


I have been intrigued withe subject matter since I encountered it in Tim Newark's Celtic Warriors in the early 90s. While I don't necessarily agree with the book's pan-Celtic theme - I'm not sure all Celtic peoples shared a common bond or identification throughout the ages, nor that they viewed the world in terms of 'Celts v. Everybody Else - especially those Saxon/Norse Types' - it made for some good reading and had a lot of ancient and medieval sources.


Gerald of Wales wrote a contemporary/near-contemporary account of the late 12th Century Anglo-Norman invasion. I highly recommend an online translation for anyone interested in researching the period. There's lots of wargame scenario ideas, from skirmishes to battles to be found there - and it has lots of flavor. Be warned, Gerald may be a little biased towards the Normans. Gerald of Wales' History of the Conquest of Ireland may be found online at the University of Toronto Library. 

Also of note: Wargames Illustrated has been digging out the ancient archives to support recent articles, and they pull out a series of 12th Century Anglo-Norman battles this time around. Follow this link to download PDFs for Lincoln, Oxford, and Wilton (written by Stephen Simpson, originally published in WI 29-31).

Wargames Illustrated 277: Haitian Revolution

I have been away from the blog quite a bit due to some heavy projects and other things, but here's the promised follow up to Wargames Illustrated 277 (at a glance).


First off, I have to say Neil Smith's article on the Haitian Revolution ("An Island in Flames") ranks as one my favorite piece written by him. It is interesting subject matter; I only had a vague understanding that there was a war in Haiti (remembered through DC's Weird War Tales #20 and #25, pictured right) until I read this article. More importantly, as one expects from Neil, he goes the distance in bringing the period alive, both from historical and gaming perspectives. 

Before you know it, you wish you had some French Revolution soldiers mixing it up on rough terrain with rebellious Haitians. In case you had not already figured it out, the Haitian Revolution is ugly. The article includes a skirmish scenario and small battle scenario, using Warhammer Historical's Legends of the High Seas and Warlord Game's Black Powder, respectively. If you don't play those games, the scenario details are descriptive enough that you can use whatever rules you have  at hand. 


There's lots of great photos accompanying the article, include pics of Trent Miniature's 'Caribbean' and 1790 ranges. Also of note - the article closes with a teaser about 'Trouble in the Caribbean' material in the future. Haiti's struggle for independence will be covered in the next installment.

Wargames Illustrated 277 (at a glance)

This issue has got some offbeat material for some favorite periods, and I really like it. Highlights include the Russian offensive into Hungary (Flames of War/late war), the Haitian Revolution (late 18th Century), and the Anglo-Norman Invasion of Ireland (late 12th Century). We also get a little taste of hilarious sci-fi gaming with Howard Whitehouse's "Eat Hitler" mix of Nazis and dinosaurs. The magazine also debuts a new feature - Quick Fire Scenarios. 

I'll go into a little more detail in a future post, but I will leave you with a few thoughts. I like interesting articles that explore different perspectives of any given (and maybe even well-worn) military period and offer new gaming ideas in the bargain. All the major highlights noted above will let you put some new use to miniature troops that normally march across the field in other places (or even other times - and I'm not just talking about the sci-fi game).

Spooky Adventures: Tammeraut's Fate

Every now and then, I think it's fun to really bring some horror elements to a role-playing game. I don't think this is necessarily an easy thing to do. I mean, a lot of the mundane monsters in a fantasy RPG would seem rather scary to me - but they are so common and the heroes are...well, heroes. I think a lot of it comes to writing style and game design - if the adventure can hold back some mystery and grab the characters (literally) unexpectedly, then you got something. 

One of the best D&D adventures I've run as a GM was Greg A. Vaughan's "Tammeraut's Fate" from Dungeon # 106. The author took a classic horror film idea - stranded on an island and under siege by zombies - and really made something that resonates. 
It did not seem like a tired cliche or dull or anything less than a suspenseful series of scary encounters. It was kind of fun to do a little give and take on pushing the adventure - the player characters need to drive a bit, otherwise they rightly feel that they are only reacting to situations - BUT - I think they got a kick out of knowing that the situation was out of control while they investigated the island's hermitage. It was tense and they knew they were up against some dark forces even before the sea zombies showed up. As a GM, these are the kind of moments you work towards - when the players are scrambling, using desperate imagination and tactics to get their characters out the other side of the adventure.



This gem from 2004 can be found as a hard copy or PDF from Paizo here.

Early Imperial Romans and Small Battles

I have recently added Dr. Phil Hendry's wargames website to my blog lists. I can't even begin to tell you about the all the Roman-related articles and wargame army projects you will find there.

Besides his website, you find a number of his articles on the Warlord Games website. His most recent piece there makes a GREAT argument for playing small scale Roman battles that may have little do with with standard wargame army lists and popular conceptions. Check out the 'Vindolanda Strength Return' article here. If you do a search on Dr. Hendry on the Warlord site, you get quite a few results here. 

I have thought a long time about exploring small battles and skirmish games in the Early Imperial Period. More than anything else, I believe my efforts would have to start with a core force of auxiliaries. So for today's visual candy, I am posting the box cover to Warlord Game's Plastic Imperial Roman Auxiliaries. 

L5R: Empire at War Scorpions Score!

I tried out my new Scorpion deck from the recent Empire at War release for AEG's Legend of the Five Rings card game. The deck did not do too bad - and all I used was what came in the starter. Considering I have played as well as I do when I have constructed a deck - well, that probably says something about my skill and how good the cards were.


Of course, there were lots of cool synergies to be had, and they actually seemed to fit well with my regular Scorpion "deck of tweaking," which uses a lot of samurai/Bitter Lies kensai and ninjas. Take a look at the Fortress of Blackened Sight stronghold at the right - now that's a good card for the multi-weapon kensai personalities for sure. 

And did you notice the Limited Action ability? That worked great for me. If you pair this up with an Artificer (or three) , you have the ability to really go through those Fate cards. Nothing like getting the weapons or sneaky ninja action cards when you can use them.


Another potential synergy was a ninja actor personality that could replace a non-Unique dead personality. The ninja actor is absolutely dirt cheap too. If you haven't found someone you need to replace, you can play some of your favorite ninja action cards off of the character. I hesitated to attach any weapons, afraid of losing them, but then I realized that a number of weapons in the deck could easily transfer to another character. That's a good combo.

For what it's worth, I'm not a huge fan of collectible card games. I like this game for all the fantasy roleplaying atmosphere it brings to the table. The Celestial Edition relaunch from last year seems to have really gone some way to making casual play very enjoyable, which I thought was one of the game's original strengths back in the mid-90s. Everyone likes cool cards, and even a serious non-competitor like myself can easily land a few nice ones without having to go to ebay. I don't think my Scorpion starter deck was unique, either. It seems like most starter decks have had some hitting power in them without requiring a lot of boosters, but this one really went over the top.

Pathfinder Bestiary: Petrification & Dragons

I recently launched a Pathfinder RPG campaign. I highly recommend the game if you liked D&D 3.5 - I know that some folks consider it D&D 3.75. I still catch myself calling it Dungeons & Dragons. 

In my first post, I mentioned that I had purchased the game's Bestiary as a PDF. I liked it so much, that I had to get my hands on an actual hard copy through the local gaming store. I don't bring the laptop to the gaming table too much and I tire of printing stuff, especially if I just need a quick flip reference. 

Paizo really got the Bestiary right. I expected some measure of revision of flavor, but was unsure how the mechanics would get tweaked. I am leisurely studying the tome, so I'm sure I'll have more discoveries that haven't leaped out at me. Here's one thing that already put the monster catalog over the top for me: petrification attacks.

The D&D game has had several monsters capable of turning our heroes into stone since its earliest days in the 1970s: basilisk, cockatrice, gorgon, and medusa come readily to mind. They do it variously by gaze, breath, or bite. As the game has evolved, the variety focused primarily on the attack method, although the save mechanic changed with the D&D 3rd Edition (ie. some monster petrification attacks were harder to resist than others). 

Pathfinder Bestiary has spiced this dynamic even more. A failed saving throw might not immediately result in petrification with most of the previously mentioned monsters, except for the medusa - and that's just the way it ought to be. The designers added some interesting ways to overcome the petrifying process in some cases as well.  

I can also say they got the dragons right too. Their powers seem very intuitive and I catch myself thinking how awesome they seem - again. One of the best things that ever happened to the game was when TSR restructured and boosted the power of dragons in 2nd Edition. In my opinion, they have made another great leap with Pathfinder. 

Kudos to Paizo for doing such a great job with the monsters we love to battle.

Updating Blog

I've added some new gadgets to the blog. Finally, there is a search button - not sure why I waited. Also, I have a popular posts section - quite frankly, for my own amusement. I am surprised by some of the items that currently rank as the most-viewed posts. 

Next week I will probably drop a few lines about L5R's new Empire at War expansion. I picked up a clan deck for the Scorpions and was quite pleased at all the cool stuff I found in it. There's some gaming goodness about Paizo's Pathfinder RPG 'Bestiary' I want to share as well.

Of course, expect more on Black Powder this fall.

Black Powder & Battle Cry

I have  strayed somewhat from my beloved Ancients and Dark Ages periods. One ruleset that I anxious to get more experience with is Warlord Games' Black Powder. 

I probably don't have to say a whole lot here about this ruleset - it's not like it hasn't been one of the biggest events of wargaming in recent years. It's got Rick Priestley and awesome production values. There's plenty of in-depth reviews to be found. This isn't one of them.


I don't have the resources (time, money, patience) to collect a bunch - or even a few - 18th/19th Century armies to play this game in the way it is magnificently described and illustrated in the rulebook. However,  I am going to give them a tryout using some nice hexboard terrain (probably from Battle Cry and Memoir '44) and some relevant 1/72 scale plastic figures.

While I'm going to start with the American Civil War, I'm going to take a look at some other wars. Right now the East India Company (especially 18th Century), the Seminole Wars, the American War of Independence, and late 19th Century colonials are of interest. For anyone interested in exploring the world of the soft plastic soldiers, I have included Plastic Soldier Review in the links section. I'll post some (very brief) battle reports, orders of battle, and that kind of thing on the blog once we get started. 


Oh yeah - Warlord Games offer some free Black Powder PDF downloads of a Quick Ref Sheet, Army Roster, and FAQs, which may be found on the Black Powder gaming page.