Shoot-Out in Adamsville

A group of the Jackson Gamers met at Jay's abode on Saturday for a Wild West game, run by John Switzer.  We all had a fun time, even though most of us couldn't seem to hit the broadside of a barn at close range.  Plus we must have purchased some of our weapons from Bongolesia as they were jamming with unpleasant frequency (and then falling apart as we tried to un-jam them!).  We were using The Rules with No-Name.  All the figures and most of the buildings were provided by John with a few of the buildings being provided by Jay.

Clicking on the pictures will reveal a larger image for your viewing pleasure.

The Game Master ponders the set-up of Adamsville.

Situation:  The sleepy village of Adamsville is soon to be awoken from its slumber by blazing guns.  Strongarm Jack's brother Darryl is locked in Sheriff Pusser's jail.  With a newly recruited gang, Jack is out to rescue his brother and to rob the bank before the Army escorted stagecoach can arrive to take the money to Fort Hamilton.  Sheriff Pusser and his deputies are scattered around town, having heard that Jack might make an appearance.  Some Pinkertons are in the bank protecting the Army payroll.  And to top everything off, Jack has a price on his head, $1000 dead or alive.  Every two-bit cowpoke will be gunning for him.

The stage is set, the lights are on, the cameras are rolling.  ACTION!!!

Main Street of Adamsville.  A couple of buildings were switched around after this picture was taken.

The Forces of Law and Order:

Sheriff and Deputies were played by Phil Young (Sheriff Pusser), Sean Pitts (Deputy Two-Gun Tom Thompson), and Ed Sansing (Deputy "Gentleman" Jim Edwards).

The Pinkertons outside the bank:  Mr. Mitchell, Mr. Smith, Mr. Peters, Mr. James.

The Pinkertons were played by Bill Hamilton (Mr. Mitchell, a "man in black")

The Outlaws:

Taco Smith, Bill Green, Strongarm Jack, Big-Eyed Bill, and ZZ Bottom

 Strongarm Jack was played by Jay Stribling.

Pecos Kid, Dandy Don, Seamus Campbell, and "Red" Green

Seamus Campbell was played by Jim Pitts

Handy, Indian Joe, Buck, and Red

Indian Joe from Buffalo was played by Dan Wentland (a new gamer).

Deputy "Gentleman" Jim Edwards patrols the boardwalk by the Edwards Hotel, in which he has a majority interest.

New faces start to drift into Adamsville.  Several are seen at the stable across the street from the Edwarrds Hotel.  Deputy Mike crosses to ask them their business in Adamsville.  They don't like the tone of his questions and bullets start to fly.

Dandy Don, Handy, and Red Green are clustered around Deputy Mike, while Big-Eyed Bill keeps his eyes on the crowd across the street by the hotel.  Deputy "Curley Red" Fife runs out into the street as he frantically searches his long-johns for his bullet.  Sheriff Pusser is standing in the door of the jail (dark green building) taking an aimed shot at the outlaws who just gunned down his deputy.

Another view of the above scene.

Pecos Kid and Seamus Campbell mosey along behind the Main Street buildings, headed towards the bank.  But a deputy (Pops) has come out of the back door of the bank having heard shots.  They all start shooting at each other.  A cowpoke in hiding guns down Seamus, but Dandy Don comes along later and shoots both the deputy and the cowboy.

Indian Joe and Buck saunter down the alley towards the front of the bank.  The only thing they can see is Cowboy Pat, dead in the street, shot by an unseen assassin.  Where are the Pinkertons?  The are hiding, cowardly, in the bank.

On Main Street, Strongarm Jack (black coat in alley) faces off against Deputy Two-Gun Tom Thompson while Deputy "Bow-Legs" Bill Hanes tries to sneak up behind him.  But outlaw Bill Green, coming out of the alley sees him.  In the background, Sheriff Pusser is still taking his aimed shot on the outlaws across the street.

While Green protects his boss' back against Deputy Hanes, Strongarm and Two-Gun face off with pistols blazing.  In the background, outlaw Buck is coming out of the alley but his attention is riveted on the bank across the street.

Strongarm and Two-Gun trade shots, with Strongarm falling down severely wounded.  He is later shot repeatedly by the cowardly Pinkertons and killed.  Green and Deputy Hanes shoot at each other with Green getting the worse of the exchange of lead.

Another view of the above scene.  Indian Joe has moved up beside Buck and they both shoot at the cowardly Pinkertons in te bank across the street (out of picture to left).

Strongarm Jack lies dead in the mouth of the alley.  Buck rounds the corner and back-shoots Deputy Two-Gun Tom, putting him down (with a jammed pistol - red bead).  Indian Joe continues to shoot at the cowardly Pinkertons in the bank.

Indian Joe and Buck cross the street towards the bank (brown building) but Buck is gunned down by the Pinkertons and Cowboy Sloan (yellow hat in upper left of picture).  Deputy Hanes and Bill Green continue their close range duel in the background.  Hanes was armed with a shotgun but apparently had grabbed birdshot instead of buckshot and was only inflicting grazes.  Cowboy Sloan later helped Hanes in finally severely wounding Bill Green.

Taco Smith (foreground) finally got some action by chasing down and killing Deputy Fife (who lost his nerve and fled from the shooting).  Then Taco saw Deputy "Gentleman" Jim Edwards shooting at ZZ Bottom (out of picture to right, behind hotel).  Taco shot at Edwards, but ZZ came out the better in their exchange, killing Edwards with a fatal gut-shot.  There were a number of fatal gut-shots in this game, mainly inflicted by the outlaws on the deputies!

One of the Pinkertons, Mr. Peters, finally screws up enough courage and comes out of the bank to trade shots with Indian Joe, severely wounding him in the right arm.  But both men are now out of ammunition (yellow beads).

So, who won?

Well, the Pinkertons held the bank until the Army escorted stage arrived and carried the money away to Fort Hamilton.

Although Strongarm Jack was killed and Seamus Campbell severely wounded, ZZ Bottom rescued Brother Darryl from "durance vile" after Sheriff Pusser was shot and knocked out in the doorway of the jail.  With the sheriff and most of his deputies out of action, the outlaws ransacked the town and rode away with Brother Darryl at their head.

And now for some period pictures of some of the players:

Deputy "Gentleman" Jim Edwards

The Pinkertons

Strongarm Jack and his men

Seamus Campbell and his men

Indian Joe from Buffalo and his me

The pictures were taken by Jim Pitts and Ed Sansing.  The dialogue is solely the product of Jim Pitts, including the comments about the "cowardly" Pinkertons who stayed in the bank, under cover, the entire game.

Battle of the Sea of Japan

Our first 1:2400 pre-dreadnought game (see previous post) saw the Russian Pacific Squadron be partially successful in evacuating the threatened Port Arthur and sailing to Vladivostok.  There they joined the Vladivostok based Independent Cruiser Squadron.  After making repairs to the damage suffered by the battleships in the Yellow Sea action, the Russian squadron, now under the command of Vice Admiral Skirdlov sailed forth to do battle with the Japanese.  Knowing that the Baltic Fleet was sending reinforcements, Skirdlov hoped to catch the Japanese separated and defeat them in detail making the task of the Baltic reinforcements that much easier.

Russian Pacific Squadron:

1st Sub-Division, Battle Division (VAdm Skirdlov [Electric Ed]):  battleships Tsesarevich (flag), Retvizan, and Pobieda
2nd Sub-Division, Battle Division (RAdm Vitgeft [Sean Campbell]):  battleships Peresviet (flag) and Sevastopol, armored cruiser Bayan
Independent Cruiser Squadron (RAdm Baron Shtakelberg [Col Campbell]):  armored cruisers Rossiya (flag), Gromoboi, and Rurik, protected cruiser Bogatyr

The Japanese fleet had suffered severe damage to its armored cruiser component (1 sunk and 5 badly damaged, out of 9 total) so their repair work was concentrated on getting the four battleships back into combat condition.  Admiral Togo kept his battleships and Vice Admiral Kamimura's remaining armored cruisers together, leaving his protected cruisers to patrol the shipping lanes and the various choke points around the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan.

Japanese Battle Squadron


1st Division (Adm Togo [Jay, Lord Sterling]):  battleships Mikasa (flag), Fuji, Skikashima, and Asahi
2nd Division (VAdm Kamimura [Kansas Bill]):  armored cruisers Izumo (flag), Azuma, Tokiwa, and Iwate

The Russian and Japanese squadrons sighted each other through the mid-morning sea mists and begin to close into fighting range.  Please click on each picture for (hopefully) a larger image.

Photo by Col Campbell

The Russian 1^st Battle Sub-Division comes under fire with all Japanese shells falling on the IRN Tsesarevich, the squadron flagship.  The lead battleship of the 2^nd Battle Sub-Division is just entering the picture.

[For a description of the shell splash markers, see Splash Markers posting on ColCampbell's Shipyard blog.]

Photo by Col Campbell

 The Japanese 2^nd Battle Division, all armored cruisers, comes under return fire from the Russian battleships, two of whom concentrate in the IJN Izumo, the division flagship.

Photo by Col Campbell

 The IJN Izumo is soon set on fire and suffers a bridge hit, forcing her to continue straight ahead for two turns.  But the efficient Japanese damage control parties soon have the fires under control.

Photo by Electric Ed

 The Russian battleline continues to slowly close with the Japanese; the 1^st Sub-Division in the foreground and the 2^nd Sub-Division in the background.  Note single size of the "splashes".  Firing is at long range and being done by only the main guns.

Photo by Col Campbell

 Meanwhile, the Russian 2^nd Battle Sub-Division turns to port into a line abreast formation.  But the Japanese battleships concentrate all their fire on IRN Peresviet, sub-division flagship.  Asked after the battle why he made such an unusual maneuver, RAdm Vitgeft said that he was attempting to get around behind the Japanese battleships.  The large and small splash markers mean that the range has fallen enough that the secondary batteries can now engage.

Photo by Col Campbell

But soon the IRN Peresviet is set on fire and begins to sink.  RAdm Vitgeft transfers to the IRN Sevastopol to continue the fight.  Unfortunately, he waited too long and the Japanese battleships sailed away from him.

Photo by Col Campbell

In the distance, the IRN Pobieda receives fire from a Japanese battleship and an armored cruiser and is set afire.  In the foreground the IRN Rossiya, flagship of the Vladivostok Independent Cruiser Division receives fire from three (!!) Japanese battleships and is also set afire.

Photo by Electric Ed

The IRN Pobieda suffers 2 fire hits from the Japanese in one turn.  The rules state that when the critical hit die is a 1 and is from a Japanese hit, then both a regular fire and a "raging fire" are started.  He had been targeted by two different Japanese ships, which both started fires.

Photo by Col Campbell

With the IRN Pobieda aflame and slowly sinking, the Japanese armored cruisers and battleships turn their gunfire against his division mates, IRN Retvizan and IRN Tsesarevich.

Photo by Col Campbell

But the Japanese return to the IRN Pobieda and start more fires, fully engulfing him and soon forcing him from the line.  His division mates also receive their share of Japanese fire.

Photo by Col Campbell

But the Japanese ships aren’t totally immune.  The armored cruiser IJN Izumo has turned away from the fight with very heavy damage, drawing long-range fire from the IRN Bayan, which is steaming as fast as he can to overtake the Japanese fleet.  The IJN Izumo eventually surrenders due to IRN Bayan's shellfire.  The other Japanese three armored cruisers and the four battleships are all under fire from the remaining Russian battleships and cruisers.

Photo by Col Campbell

 The IRN Pobieda has turned away from the fight.  The fires are too much for him and he sinks, the second Russian ship to be sunk.

Photo by Col Campbell

 But not the last.  The IRN Rossiya has been set ablaze by shellfire from the Japanese battleships.  He has turned away and is endeavoring to reach Vladivostok.  But the fires also prove too much for his crew and he sinks, taking many of them to a watery grave.

Photo by Col Campbell

With the IRN Rossiya out of the fight, RAdm Baron Shtakelberg transfers to his next cruiser, IRN Gromoboi, who immediately draws the Japanese battleship fire and is set ablaze.  He won’t last long either.

Photo by Col Campbell

 Finally the Russian battleships score some telling hits, setting two of the Japanese armored cruisers (background) afire and forcing them to turn away from the fight.  But it is too little, too late, as the Japanese battleships (foreground) turn to close the range even though they continue to draw fire from the remaining Russian ships.

Photo by Jim Pitts

 A closer look at the Japanese armored cruisers, as the IJN Azuma and Tokiwa have turned away and the IJN Iwate attempts to cover their retreat.

Photo by Col Campbell

 As darkness begins to fall, the IRN Tsesarevich is targeted by the IJN Iwate (#8) and the IRN Retvizan by the IJN Mikasa (#1).

So, who won.  I think it is fairly obvious with the sinking of two battleships and two armored cruisers that the Russian Pacific Squadron were the losers.  Although they forced the surrender of the Japanese armored cruiser Izumo, they couldn't board her.  She was later recovered by the Japanese fleet (and her captain committed seppuku).  The Russians retreated back to Vladivostok while the Japanese continued their blockade of the Russian port.  Can the Baltic Fleet's reinforcements, now called the 2nd Pacific Squadron, turn the tables on the victorious Japanese?  Tune in later next year for what may be the final climactic battle.

Note:  All ships are from Panzerschiffe Miniatures.  The flame markers are from Litko Game Accessories.

Battle of the Yellow Sea

A small group of the Jackson Gamers met Saturday last (Nov. 6) at Fondren Presbyterian Church to play a recreation of the August 1904 Battle of the Yellow Sea.  We used Jim Pitts' 1:2400 scale Panzerschiffe models of the Russian and Japanese ships involved in the battle.

Jay Stribling  and Ed Sansing commanded the Russian 1st Pacific Squadron as it attempted to break out from Port Arthur and sail to Vladivostok.  John Murdaugh, Sean Pitts, and a late arriving Travis Melton commanded the Japanese Battle Squadron.  We used a pre-dreadnought modification to Travis' Seas of Steel rules.

As usual, click or double click on the pictures for a larger image.

The Russian 1st Pacific Squadron steams moderately towards the Straits of Korea.  The six battleships are in the lead, followed by three protected cruisers.   A protected cruiser leads the eleven destroyers in the foreground.  Jay commanded the battleships and Ed commanded the cruisers and destroyers.

In the background is the Japanese 3rd Division of two armored cruisers and three protected cruisers, commanded by Sean.

The Japanese 1st Division, four battleships and two armored cruisers, was commanded by John.  They steam towards the approaching Russians.

As the Japanese battleline changes course, eight Japanese destroyers and four torpedo boats increase speed to get into the fight.

The Russian battleships (foreground) and the Japanese cruisers (background) begin to exchange salvos.

Russian and Japanese destroyers begin to tangle with each other while the Russian  battleline sedately continues on its course.  Off to the left (out of the picture), John splits his Japanese 1st Division, sending three battleships to the right and one battleship and two armored cruisers to the left to attempt to pincer the Russian line.

Under heavy fire from the Russian quick-firing guns, a division of Japanese destroyers attempts to launch their torpedoes.  But the fish miss their target.  The destroyers are later completely wiped out.

Here is another shot of the Russian battleline with Jay's battleships in the lead and Ed's cruisers in trail.  The lead battleship in John's right column (the Mikasa) is approaching from the right.

With his three battleships in echelon, John closes with and exchanges fire with the Russian battleships.  John's other three ships are off the picture to the left, heading to cut the Russians off from the Straits of Korea.

This is a high oblique view of the battle.  Sean's Japanese cruisers are to the upper left with the furtherest two leaving due to severe damage.  Jay's and Ed's battleships and cruisers hold their line ahead formation in the center while John's battleships and armored cruisers close in two separated three ship groups.  The destroyer action is already over with one division of Japanese destroyers unsuccessfully attacking the Russian battleships.  Two divisions of Russian destroyers are just departing the picture on the right, heading towards the Japanese 5th Division which is approaching from the right.  These five older (and obsolescent) ships were commanded by Travis.

From a different angle, Travis' Japanese division can be seen approaching from the bottom of the picture.  He commanded four older Japanese protected cruisers and a captured Chinese "battleship" (the Chenyen).  They were able to sink the threatening Russian destroyers but didn't contribute much to the rest of the battle.
 

In the foreground, a Japanese battleship  gets down to wakizashi (knife) range as it passes through the Russian batteline.  In the background, John's other column of Japanese battleships attempts to do the same to Ed's Russian cruisers.  But the Mikasa misjudges the closing speeds and rams a Russian cruiser.  Oops!

Here's a closer view of the collision between the Mikasa and the Diana.  The Russian cruiser suffers much more damage than the Japanese battleship, but both are out of the action for a while.

As one of Sean's Japanese cruisers cuts across the tail of the column of Russian cruisers, John's other two Japanese battleships turn hard aport and engage the Russian cruisers more closely.  In the background, Jay's battleships continue their stately promenade this time with two Japanese armored cruisers to port and a battleship to starboard.  Jay's sixth battleship is lagging somewhat behind, having suffered funnel damage which slowed its speed.  Several of Sean's cruisers are engaging it.

Suddenly a plume of black smoke erupts from the Japanese armored cruiser Kasuga.  The rear main magazine has taken a hit!  It is not enough to blow up the magazine but the rear main gun turret is put out of action.

Getting first move on the next turn, Jay's Russian battleships make a turn to port across the front of the Japanese armored cruisers.  With no room to maneuver, both cruisers slam into the Russian battleships.  The result is further heavy damage to the Japanese cruisers and light damage to the heavier Russian battleships.

Meanwhile to the rear, two of John's Japanese battleships engage Jay's trail Russian battleship and Ed's lead Russian protected cruiser.  The range is pointblank and neither side seems to be missing much.

Under fire from John's Mikasa and one of Sean's cruisers, the trail Russian cruiser (Pallada) is set on fire.  The Russian crew works furiously to put the fire out.  Will they be successful?

No they won't.  When the Mikasa crosses the stern of the Pallada, its shells strike deep into the vitals of the Russian protected cruiser and he blows up!

But Jay returns the favor and smashes the Japanese armored cruiser Kasuga, convulsing her with explosions that send her to Davey Jones' locker!

After examining the situation and considering the lateness of the hour, the game master (Jim Pitts) computes battle damages.  Both sides have inflicted the same number of points in battle damage to the other, but Jim rules that the Japanese tactics of splitting their main battleline into two elements was unsuccessful against the Russian tactic of staying in a single line ahead.  He adjudges that five of the six Russian battleships will be able to make it to Vladisvostok.  The sixth battleship and one of the two surviving Russian cruisers are too surrounded by the Japanese and will probably either succumb to Japanese guns or be forced back to Port Arthur.  The other Russian cruiser is positioned to break away to the south and likely seek internment in a neutral port.  The Russians are awarded both a tactical and a strategic victory.