Skip to main content

The Eventual Table and a Scenario. . .

The basic set-up with a few Zichenauer officers and Magister Militum tent pavilions, to provide a sense of table dimensions.


Well, I just couldn’t resist setting up the three folding tables late last night, to gain an idea of how much area they occupy, before I went to bed. So, in the first photo this is what you see – an area 72” x 90”, which, when covered by the planned two foot square sections of MDF board (painted light green), will become 72” x 96”. A lovely 6’ x 8’ of gaming space. More than I’ve ever enjoyed before. I’ll space the tables out a little bit before placing the MDF boards, so there are no unsupported edges that might catapult soldiers and scenery into the air if I carelessly lean on them.

My good friend on Vancouver Island, Jeff Huddelson, mentioned in a comment yesterday that I might be able to have even more space if I purchased a fourth table. It’s an idea I really like, but I want to leave enough room to move around all four sides of the planned table comfortably. The set-up you see above will be in the central room of Zum Stollenkeller, where the Grand Duchess will also have her long awaited bicycle repair shop, so I’ll be (deliriously) happy with 6’ x 8’.

Gosh, when I was in my late teens, during the early 1980s, I had no gaming space whatsoever and had to use my bed. Granted, it was a double-sized mattress and the figures were 15mm Napoleonics, but it just never quite looked right to me, especially after ogling all of the photos of Peter Gilder’s tables at The Wargames Holiday Centre pictured in Miniature Wargames, Military Modelling, and the catalog Peter sent when I wrote him a letter. A real, hand-written letter. My, how times have changed!

Jeff also asked me some days ago about whether or not I had a specific scenario in mind for the inaugural battle here in Zum Stollenkeller . Well, after paging through C.S. Grant’s Scenarios for Wargamers the other night, I think I have the answer. The next meeting between Stollenian and Zichenauer forces will be a version of the “Bridge Assault” with, perhaps, a detonation task for that as yet unpainted battalion of pioneers.

So, to set the scene, picture something like this:


Following their defeat at the frontier town of Zollamtstadt last December, the remnants of Stollen’s understrength army withdrew into the Stollenian interior to regroup and await reinforcements. Since then, the Stollenians have been spread out around the small town of Pelznikkel, which lies astride a tributary of the Lesser Zwischen River, along the main north-south road into the Grand Duchy of Stollen. For its part, the Army of Zichenauers occupied Zollamtstadt, augmented its invasion force, and made friends with the local barmaids and serving wenches during the winter and throughout much of the spring.

With the arrival of the traditional campaigning season, Zichenau’s ruler, the conniving Princess Antonia III, is urging her generals to pull up their stockings, push farther into Stollen, seize the capital Krankenstadt, and bring her the head of, “That lobster-suited idiot Irwin-Amadeus II on a silver platter!” Meanwhile, Irwin-Amadeus, his ministers, and generals have been hard at work since the winter, formulating a plan to halt the white-coated Zichenauer hoards before they can reach the heart of Stollen.

Will their painstaking work succeed? Will Stollenian forces be able to rebound and drive Zichenau back across the Lesser Zwischen River? Is Irwin-Amadeus really the fool that he seems to be? Well, you’ll have to wait and see until the late summer.


Grant’s bridge assault scenario requires a total of 11 units of infantry, 3 of cavalry, and 7 guns. So, what I hope to do is ask a few area gamers, of some renown, along with a few of their units to Zum Stollenkeller where we’ll slug it out across the table. Barring that, I’ll use my own troops and substitute an infantry company or cavalry squadron for each of Grant’s units and halve the number of guns. In any case, there is a fair amount of painting, table assembly, and scenery creation (a few more hills) remaining before any battles can be fought here in Zum Stollenkeller. With that in mind, I’d better get going on that unit of Revell Prussians waiting patiently on the painting/radio table behind me!


Once again, General von Kallweitschen is telling Colonel O'Malley how to go about the "proper" deployemt of light troops, a business that the Colonel knows very well already. Some guys just never learn!

Comments

tradgardmastare said…
Great plans - I look forward to seeing them unfold...
Bluebear Jeff said…
Thank you, Stokes, for this update and a glimpse at your plans.

I'm not familiar with that particular scenario . . . but that does sound like an awful lot of artillery for the number of troops.


-- Jeff
A J said…
A permanent table set-up! The wargamers' dream! I'm looking forward to reading the battle account.
Der Alte Fritz said…
A little bit of green felt is inexpensive and will cover that blinding white surface. I keep my tables draped all the time, even when I'm not gaming on them. The extra table would be nice too. You could always keep it folded up and stored away until you actually game. Then set up the extra table just for the game.

Oh, and you will probably discover that "stuff" has a way of finding its way to the tabletop. My table seems to have turned into a storage area lately.
Andy Mitchell said…
My brain keeps coming up with ideas - many of them silly - so excuse me if this seems too daft for words, but how about this for an inaugural battle?

Fight using Charge! elementary rules so we have non-simultaneous rules. Generals will be any volunteers from the OSW yahoo group (a squadron or company per player). Orders are given in the comments section of your blog, each side gets 24 hours to give their orders. Once all orders are in you fight that turn on the new table.

(You can reject this comment and keep the entire idea secret for the moment while you think about it).
Frankfurter said…
Another inexpensive option is outdoor upholstery fabric or very tiny turf outdoor carpet ....
Then again, I once had a huge roll of "grass" from a railroad hobby shop ...
:)

how does Irwin-Amadaeus feel about seafood sausages?

:)
...an excellent scenario - and one I've played myself a couple of times...

http://www.geocities.com/stevej_hicks//SteveWSS/Bridge/SteveWSSBridge.html

...a flavour of it is also on the Teasers page:

http://steve-the-wargamer-teasers.blogspot.com/
MurdocK said…
WOO HOO!

Time for table games!

Next you will be looking for an opponent (or two or three...)
old-tidders said…
Nice good sized table. I covered my gaming table by using a cut down large 'grass green' curtain.

Looking forward to seeing the battle pics.

-- Allan

Popular posts from this blog

Presenting the Anspach-Bayreuth Kuirassiere!!!

Here they are, with the rearmost nine figures still drying, three squadrons of the Anspach-Bayreuth Kuirassiere, now in the service of the Grand Duchy of Stollen. And now, it's onto that artillery!

Taking Stock Part II: The (As Yet) Unpainted but Planned OOB. . .

  Two companies of Reichsarmee grenadiers painted back in 2017 or 2018.  Minden Austrians of course. A lovely early autumn day here in the grand duchy.  Bright sunshine and a light breeze with cool temperatures will make for some very pleasant late afternoon lawn mowing in a little while.  But first a bit more discussion of painting plans for the future. Last time, I looked back at the various and sundry units, support troops, and civilians that I've managed to paint in the last 17 years as the Grand Duchy of Stollen project has developed.  So today, let's look into the seemingly bottomless Drawer 'o' Lead to my left for a clue to the new direction.  Be forewarned, it's not going to be a quick job getting everything painted and based, but there we are. The following plans are based on the pile of unpainted figures already here.  Any future purchases will be limited to small things that might be needed to fill out the envisioned units (the odd few officers mounted o

Having a "No Day". . .

  F or the almost 20 years that she lived in Mexico, one of my late mother's Irish friends frequently mentioned having a "No Day."  A day with no social obligations, chores, tasks, or other work that interfered with whatever personal interests took one's fancy on the day in question. Since today -- a gray and chilly Saturday -- is Mom's birthday, the Grand Duchess is out with friends, and the Young Master is ensconced on the sofa in the TV room with a cold, yours truly is taking his own such No Day.  I think Mom would approve of my decision to make the world go away, as the old Eddie Arnold song intoned, even if only for a little while. So, I will spend Saturday afternoon focused on that first squadron and small regimental staff of Eureka Saxon cuirassiers.  These have stood waiting  untouched over on the painting table for almost three weeks while we skied and otherwise gadded about with snowy, winter outdoor activities. I hope to share a painting update Sunday a