Diorama of the old Confederate Soldiers Home in Richmond

The Confederate Soldiers Home in Richmond was established after the Civil War through the efforts of the Robert E. Lee Camp #1 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and others, including a letter of endorsement from an ailing ex-president U. S. Grant. According to the society’s website, “On April 18, 1883 a group of concerned Confederate Veterans met in Richmond, Virginia, to form the Camp Lee Soldiers’ Home (also called Confederate Soldiers’ Home, Confederate Veterans Soldiers’ Home, R. E. Lee Camp Soldiers’ Home, Lee Camp Soldiers’ Home, or Old Soldiers’ Home) as a benevolent society to aid their needy former comrades. The Robert E. Lee Camp, No. 1, Confederate Veterans was incorporated March 13, 1884. In the year that followed, the camp raised funds and acquired land in Western Richmond for a home. The Home opened on January 1, 1885, and it was located in the corner of Grove Ave. and the Boulevard in Richmond, Virginia. Plagued by financial difficulties, they sought money from the state. In 1886, the General Assembly authorized a small annual appropriation which was increased in 1892 in return for the deed to the property. The home was under the Dept. of Public Welfare until it closed in 1941, upon the death of the last resident.”

Here are some more photos of the diorama, which is located in one of the two surviving buildings, the Confederate War Memorial Chapel (also known as the Pelham Chapel). The other building is the Robinson Building. The rest of the old soldiers home is gone, and now the Virginia Fine Arts Museum and the Virginia Historical Society sit on the old site.

FREE rules for ACW wargaming – Give Them the Cold Steel!

Ed McKie has graciously allowed the Johnny Reb Gaming Society to publish here on our website his new rules for miniature wargames for the American Civil War (ACW) period.  He maintains a support site which has more details on these new rules. It is a Yahoo site http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/GiveThemtheColdSteel/ where quick play sheets and game counters can be found.

Give Them the Cold Steel is an interesting addition to the pantheon of published rules for ACW wargaming, and are worth a look, especially since Ed has provided them as a FREE service to the wargaming community.

Here are the rules and supporting files:

• Give Them the Cold Steel rules
• ACW Event Cards 2
• Disorder, retire, and other markers
• Casualty markers

Please try out these rules when you get a chance, and report your likes and dislikes by adding comments to this blog post. Feel free to suggest any improvements or house rules, or any after-action reports!

Thanks Ed for your generous contribution to the JRGS and our CHARGE! website!

Some Civil War games at the Cold Wars 2013 wargaming convention

I attended the Friday night sessions of the 2013 Cold Wars miniature wargaming convention in Lancaster, Pa. The above photo is a section of a 25mm game of the Battle of Groveton, presented by Ohio gamemaster Jim Kopchak. The fighting resulted in a Union victory when the Rebel commanders retired. Jim used his own home-grown set of rules, Civil War Commander II.

Another shot of Jim’s 25mm layout. Jim’s rules include a unique “capture the flag” system of determining victory points. When a unit ir eliminated, that player who lost the unit must give 1 or 2 flags (depending upon the unit) to his opponent as trophies of war.

Here are more photos of Jim’s game, as well as Regimental Fire & Fury games by Lowell Hamilton and Rich Hasenauer, and a skirmish game by John Michael Priest.

Excellent new scenario book for Regimental Fire & Fury ACW gaming!

Author and wargaming expert Rich Hasenauer, a member of the HMGS Legion of Honor, has produced the first in what we at the Johnny Reb Gaming Society hope will be a long series of fantastic, full-color scenario books for his popular rules set, Regimental Fire & Fury.  If the quality of this first offering is a hint of what is to come, we are in for a real treat as this series progresses through the war.

Regimental Fire & Fury Civil War Battles Scenarios, Volume 1: 1861-1862 is a welcome addition to my library of scenario books for regimental-level ACW gaming. Rich presents 11 different battles, some of which have multiple scenarios to depict portions of the larger fighting on a manageable scale. These range in chronological order from Big Bethel in 1861 to Prairie Grove in 1862, and represent both the Eastern and Western Theaters of the war. He also presents some optional rules which the gamer may incorporate into these scenarios, or into any other RFF game. The most interesting of these is his take on deploying and using skirmish lines in an RFF game, as well as the use of extended lines and twilight/night game turns. These are elements which have evolved from the wider usage of RFF and extensive playtesting among a variety of gaming groups.

As with the original Regimental Fire & Fury rules book, this new supplement is printed on glossy coated-two side enamel paper, enabling crisp reproduction of the photographs, maps, and images. The images show several of Rich’s fantastic miniature wargames in progress, and help visualize how to layout the gaming table for each scenario. Having retired in 2011, he now has more time to devote to his hobbies, and with more than 2,000 copies of RFF sold, he has a devoted following who will look forward to his continued efforts in the years to come.

Klingle Farm at Gettysburg available from Buildings in Turmoil at Fall In!

 

John Mayer of Buildings in Turmoil will have this impressive model of the Klingle Farm available for sale as an unpainted kit at the 2012 Fall-In wargaming convention in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

The farm was just across the road a short distance from the Scherfy farm. It was recently restored to its original appearance. John will also have some other new items available at the show which he is not announcing at this time.
For more information on John’s entire line of 10mm Gettysburg buildings, visit his website for Buildings in Turmoil.

AVAILABLE NOW FROM THE AUTHORS WHO BROUGHT YOU So You Think You Know Gettysburg?

So You Think You Know Antietam?: The Stories Behind America’s Bloodiest Day

By James and Suzanne Gindlesperger

Administered by the National Park Service, the Antietam National Battlefield contains nearly 100 monuments, each with its own story. So You Think You Know Antietam? honors those who took part in this darkest of days in our nation’s history by telling the stories behind the monuments.

§ Who designed the monuments and what do the symbols represent?

§ Why are no Confederate soldiers buried in the national cemetery?

§ What connection did Clara Barton have with the battle?

§ Who was Johnny Cook and what did he do?

So You Think You Know Antietam? answers the above questions and more. Readers will learn some of the lesser known stories about Antietam and the human side of war through poignant vignettes that reveal the ironies and tragedies not normally found in typical guidebooks. Featuring close to 300 color photos, 10 color-coded chapters and maps, and GPS coordinates of all monument locations, So You Think You Know Antietam? is a well-organized, attractive book meant to enrich the reader’s experience.

Available wherever books are sold or at http://www.blairpub.com.

Trisina Dickerson, Sales & Marrketing Intern

John F. Blair, Publisher

1406 Plaza Drive

Winston-Salem, NC 27103

800-222-9796

A few random 15mm ACW photos

I have been away from the wargaming scene all spring and summer as I focus on an expanded role within the company I work for, as well as getting a couple of  Civil War book manuscripts ready for the publishers. Here are few photographs of some past games I hosted, starting with a couple of shots of the award-winning South Mountain game I presented at the HMGS-East 2002 Fall-In convention in Gettysburg, Pa.

17th Virginia customized and painted by Pawel Chrzanowski

Polish wargamer and modeler Pawel Chrzanowski ranks among the finest painters of 10mm wargaming figures in the hobby today. He has been a frequent contributor to this blog over the past few years. Run a search for his last name in the search box to obtain a list of the links to previous articles and photographs.

Pawel has used a combination of Pendraken and Minifigs figures as the base for his excellent sculpting and conversion work. The rifles are from Chariot Miniatures.

Here are three more photos of the miniature 17th Virginia Infantry, a regiment which served in the Confederate army from First Manassas to Appomattox  Court House.

My temporary Civil War 15mm / N scale train layout

A local model railroad club recently invited me to set up and display my 15mm wargaming layout at an open house they were holding in York, Pennsylvania. Here are a few photos of what I came up with in mixing my wargaming terrain and figures with my railroad.

My interest in miniature wargaming stems from several factors, including a childhood love for toy soldiers, growing up near a railroad, and having a grandfather who worked for the New York Central his entire career. I have always enjoyed miniatures, whether it be a wargaming layout or a model railroad. Here are some photos of a temporary set up I presented a few weeks ago.

Enjoy!

Battle of Monocacy in 15mm using the Gettysburg Soldiers rules set

Two blockhouses (far left and far right of image) protect the old covered bridge and the B&O Railroad bridge at Monocacy Junction.

Veteran wargamer and master figure painter Larry Reber of www.gettysburgsoldiers.com sent me some photographs of a recent game he ran using a scenario I wrote for the July 1864 Battle of Monocacy (near Frederick, Maryland). This scenario appeared in Charge! issue #25, and can be downloaded for a modest charge from the Wargame Vault.

Larry will be presenting this impressive-looking Monocacy game at the upcoming Drums at the Rapids wargaming convention in northwestern Ohio.

Here are the rest of Larry’s photographs!