Gettysburg hero Charles Hazlett was from my hometown

The story of Lieutenant Charles Edward Hazlett‘s death at the Battle of Gettysburg is well known, and appears in early newspaper accounts of the battle within days after the troops had left Pennsylvania.  He commanded Battery D, 5th U.S. Artillery during the July 1863 battle. His men laboriously hauled heavy artillery pieces up the steep eastern slope of Little Round Top, positioned them near the crest, and then joined in the defense of the hill.  His old friend and former artillery commander, Brig. Gen. Stephen Weed, fell mortally wounded and collapsed to the ground.  As Hazlett bent over him, a bullet killed the lieutenant.

Family members buried Hazlett in Woodlawn Cemetery in Zanesville, Ohio, where his family lived. His brother would also die in the Civil War, perishing at the Battle of Stone’s River out in Tennessee.

On a recent visit to my hometown of Zanesville, I took a few photos of the Hazlett brothers’ graves, which have been nicely restored by the Zanesville Civil War Round Table.

New miniature wargaming blog – Cigar Box Heroes

Long-time Tennessee wargamer Cory Ring has been a frequent contributor to Charge! with photographs of his impressive 15mm collection of Civil War figures. He is also quite active in gaming  several other periods of warfare, including the Seven Years War and the American War of Independence.

Now, he has started his own blog covering his miniature wargaming activities, Cigar Box Heroes.  Click here to have a look at some of his entries, including photos of his AWI and SYW armies.

Cory, welcome to the pleasurable world of blogging!

Blue Moon 15mm ACW figures – new line of Civil War soldiers!

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, wargamer and living historian John Mayer sent me three photographs of his freshly painted 15mm Blue Moon Civil War wargaming figures. Blue Moon has made quite a splash lately with their new line of figures, and these photos show the detail of some of the Confederate models.

Click each photo to enlarge it for better viewing of these exciting new figures.

John writes, “I really like these figures, although not as much as the original Old Glory.  They are definitely bigger and I think some people will have a problem with that; but still some of the best sculpted  since Old Glory’s originals and AB or Battle Honors. These new figures have good detail and nice sturdy rifles, although the bayonets seem just a little small and stocky, which I understand the reasoning for that.”

John adds, “Blue Moon’s  new figures are a bit bigger, but I would use them with my Old Glory 15’s. I look forward to the shoulder arms figures and other specialty troops. How about some 1st Bull Run troops for us to celebrate the 150th Anniversary!”

Anyone out there who also has painted some of these new figures? What do you think? Yay or Nay?

ACW regiment / army survey

Robert Sweeney, a member of the Johnny Reb Gaming Society, is taking a survey of regimental-level ACW gamers.

Please respond here with your answers.

1) How many Union infantry regiments (not counting cavalry, artillery or special units) do you have painted, mounted and usable for battle?
2) How many Confederate infantry regiments (not counting cavalry, artillery or special units) do you have painted, mounted and usable for battle?
3) How many Union cavalry battalions do you have painted, mounted and usable for battle?
4) How many Confederate cavalry battalions do you have painted, mounted and usable for battle?
5) How many Union artillery batteries do you have painted, mounted and usable for battle?
6) How many Confederate artillery batteries do you have painted, mounted and usable for battle?
7) Do you have any of these special units and if so, how many:
a) Colored Troops
b) Snipers / Sharpshooters
c) Gatling Guns
d) Wagons
e) Observation Towers
f) Balloons
g) Other (ambulances, forges, etc.)

Start counting!
Thanks! I will compile results from TMP and other sources and report the overall results and averages on the Johnny Reb Gaming Society’s Charge blog.

Union supply wagon crossing sunken road

In the hard copy Charge! newsletter, long-time contributor Larry Reber of West Virginia gives some ideas on constructing portable sunken roads for the Civil War gaming table. I had previously made my own sunken roads by carving roads into pieces of foam insulation board from the local Lowe’s hardware superstore.

The 15mm wagon shown above was painted by Larry, and shows the depth to which I typically carve my sunken road sections. I string them together for larger scenarios such as Antietam’s Bloody Lane.  Larry operates a very nice painting and custom figure conversation business, http://www.gettysburgsoldiers.com, and I have a few hundred of his skillfully painted figures as part of my collection of Civil War gaming figures.

Old Mexican Mission

Found this while rummaging through some of my old wargaming stuff from back when I getting into the Mexican-American War period. I bought more than 50 packs of 15mm MAW figures (Musket Miniatures) on eBay for a very reasonable price, and I bought this model from Attactix in Colorado while on a business trip. I started painting it and detailing it, but lost interest in the MAW period before I finished this and before I painted a single figure. I sold all of the figures and used the proceeds to invest in American Revolution figures instead.

So, two questions…

1) Anyone know the maker of this old 15mm building?

2) Have you ever started into a period for wargaming and then decided to abandon ship and head a different direction? If so, please leave a comment on your own experience.

The model is of a hard foam, somewhat similar to some of the old JR Miniatures buildings, but I don’t know for sure that this was from JR. I recall that a piece broke in transit from Denver to Cleveland, and I had to glue it back together.

The roof lifts off, and the blockhouse itself also lifts off of the base model.

Click photos to enlarge them

UPDATE: The maker of this old piece has been been identified as Greenfield Garrisons and it was likely made in the 1980s. The company also made palisades, Viking buildings, and other goodies. At one point, Tom Dye of GFI owned them before selling off the line.

River Wars rules now available from JRGS

The Johnny Reb Gaming Society announces the publication of River Wars, a fast-play, easy-to-learn set of miniature rules for 1:600 American Civil War riverine actions such as naval engagements on the Mississippi River and other rivers in the Western Theater. The rules are available on line as a .pdf file directly from the Wargame Vault for only $7.99.

Click here for a link to the website and to read a few pages for free!