Hybrid Index Card and Paper Soldier Armies

As a second phase to the ACW project, I extended my idea of using index cards for units by enhancing them with reduced 18mm Peter's Paperboys soldiers - basically mounting the soldiers to the "handle" or fold of the index cards.

I was able to complete the armies for the Union and the Confederacy for use with the One-Hour Wargames ACW rules. But I did not complete them in time to have a go at a game with my dad while he visited for Thanksgiving. It was a rush job towards the end, and afterwards, since it was clear there would be no FtF game with the new units, it became tedious work to complete. So I took some shortcuts...

Proper-ish (Paper) Soldiering?

Looks descent despite my ham-fisted
 scissoring with common scissors. 

I decided to move forward with more appropriate ACW armies for my OHW games, while keeping my original "index card" armies for exploring the other period rules in the "One-Hour Wargames" book.

Having received some pointers from Norm ( http://battlefieldswarriors.blogspot.com ) and Alex ( http://ecw40mmproject.blogspot.com ) about some sources of paper soldiers, I did a little web research and found something interesting on Peter Dennis' "Peter's Paperboys" site (always feel a little odd typing that into the search box...). Peter has an "18mm ACW" product line and provides a free "have-a-go" sample of some Union Zouave's ( https://peterspaperboys.com/collections/18mm-american-civil-war/products/free-presenting-the-american-civil-war-in-18mm-scale-with-have-a-go-sample ). 

Why would I be interested in 18mm figures? Part of my plan is to get to using the WarLord EPIC ACW plastic miniatures for my ACW Project someday; and since that will be after I have built up some paper Union and Confederate armies (and maybe some scenery too), I would like to incorporate the plastics with the paper and not have it look crappy (maybe wishful thinking).

Moving on to OHW Scenario #2

Moving on from On-Hour Wargames Scenario #1 Pitched Battle (1), it is time for Scenario #2 Pitched Battle (2). At least it looks and reads more interesting: it has two objectives and one side must hold both to win.

After having played Scenario #1 over a dozen times I began to get the feeling that OHW’s ACW rules were, well, boring… After gaining some experience with the mechanics of the rules, each game ended up in a slug-fest and basically whichever side moved within range of Zouave or Infantry fire first was pretty much doomed. Then again, I am certain my use of the various units was sub-par on both sides.

So it seemed prudent to just move on, since it is likely that it is the scenario that may be "boring" and not the rules necessarily.

The playing field consists of two objectives: a hill and a crossroads. Sticking with the cheapskate approach, the hill is some rags under the felt, but with an off color rag on top to give it some relief/contrast - this is easier on the eyes both in real life as well as in the photos for some reason. The road is a hastily cut-up cardboard envelope that contained some new ACW rules (yes, I’ve already started looking at other rules, but that will have to wait for a later post.)

What’s in a tabletop wargame?

So I’ve been bitten by the tabletop gaming bug, and due to not wanting to spend much (if any) money while testing the waters, I scrounged up some free and/or cheap resources to get going.

After reading many great blog articles and some study after feedback from article authors I came up with a list of what I need.

Table - Check: use dining room table.

“Grass mat” - Check: use green felt from a home Craps game, turned upside down of course.

Rules - Check: Got the “One-Hour Wargames” book. Thanks to Norm (https://battlefieldswarriors.blogspot.com/ ) for recommending it to this beginner. While not free, the Kindle version is cheap and proved to be an eye-opener for me on several points.

Dice - Check: see Craps game above.

Great looking miniatures - [screeching halt noise]…wait…I gotta acquire and paint figures? Let’s see what else we can do here…

How about grab some index cards from the old file cabinet and add some folds to indicate distinct unit types, then add some writing on them?