ACW - Battle Snapshot Pt2

Hi All,
          The second batch of pictures from the American Civil War dust-up I was recently pleased to witness.

 Back up the other side of the table.

Artillery in action.

The central section.

Being mauled.

Advancing on the regimental flank.

Unionists advance across the road.

Worse for wear.

The Left flank river assault.

Defenders, Man the barracades !

Prepare to receive charge.

The Right flank.

I took part on a couple of moves in the centre, where the Unionist lads were beginning to grind into the Good ole' boys.

Thanks again for the invite, guys.

Part three has now been posted.

Ivor Cogdell

All photos copyright 2017. Ivor Cogdell

ACW - Battle Snapshot Pt1

Hi all,
          I was very kindly invited to a friend's war game event, covering a massive 60 feet by 6 feet table, using 10,000 28 mm figures, starring in an American Civil War "what if ?" battle, using Fire and Fury (Regimental) (TM) rules. There will be a part amphibious landing to add to the mix. as well.

The plot is this - Vicksburg has fallen in May 1863 and the Confederate area of influence in the West is collapsing very quickly. Sherman is pushing rebels really hard and very quickly to Atlanta, Lee has decided to send one Army Corp to help Johnston and delay his move / invasion North. However Grant is now overall commander of Union forces and he has just arrived in the Eastern flank on the James River where Lee was stocking up for his move North.

Let the dice roll the fate of a Nation.

I was only able to take part in the afternoon of the first day of the two day event, but I hope it gives you a taste of what was going on.

"Roughly going right to left along the table."

The long view.

One of the naval troop carriers is shown at the bottom of the shot.

More to come in part two.

Ivor Cogdell

All photos (C) copyright 2017 Ivor Cogdell.

Thoughts on - XXX 3 - Return of Xander Cage (No Spoilers)

Hi all,
          XXX 3 -  "Whoosh, Whoosh, Splash, Wheeee, Bang Bang Bang. That went well. The End."

I'm only kidding, but with this movie, unfortunately, its not too far from the truth of the matter. My pal and caught it in 4D, which means a rocker seat, complete with pressure pads and air blowers built into the back, it even came with optional water mist sprayers, (Controls on the seat rests). The bad news was that it costs more, also it did not have Audio Description for the visually impaired, which my friend needed.
        The plot was not very surprising, XXX and muscle bound friends vs. master criminals, assorted chatting and scrapping with each other. The chosen locations were not impressive at all, it felt like a cheap budget flic, not the return of a classic hero.
         Acting, who needs acting when you have a fight scene, explosions and pretty girls. Stunts, it seemed like there was nothing fantastic, no doubt it took a lot of work to look seamless and realistic, but that's their job. Even the use of the super bouncy seats was overdone. It was not seasick inducing, but as they say "Less is more".

The first XXX was fresh and different. I missed the second, possibly as my man Vin was not in it. The third installment of XXX was not even impressive. My friend, who had not caught the first two films, summed it up with one comment, "That was stupid."

Score - 3 out of 10. A waste of time and money.

Ivor

Thoughts on - Passengers (No spoilers)

Hi all,
          A friend and I went to see the 2d version of Passengers. The ship design  was original, for a deep space vessel. The inboard ship graphics were well done and not too complex to understand. The story line does have a few inconsistencies, and they do juggle with the laws of physics in places, but that's Hollywood for you. For details check out the IMDB database.

 http://www.imdb.com/

 Good performances by the cast.

7 out of 10, 8 out of 10 if you ignore the physics errors.

Ivor