Storm The Farmhouse - Battle of La Haye Sainte - Game Day

Hello everyone! Been a while since I've posted, but just got back from a great game day at the Chehalis Veterans Memorial Museum. I was able to host my La Haye Sainte game using One-Hour Skirmish Wargames rules with six players. The game went well, and a lot of good suggestions were made by the players, as I'll be hostiIng this game again at Enfilade in May. There were several other games going on in the morning session as well as mine, so felt very fortunate to have my game filled. I stayed for the afternoon period and played in a Chain of Command game.

I almost was a no-show for the event as we had snow all day yesterday here in Steilacoom. Other areas had heavy rain, including where the museum is located in Chehalis, Washington - which is prone to flooding. However, the snow had melted off the roads in the morning, so I put on my big boy pants and heading down to the event. Glad I went as today was very sunny and beautiful. The picture below is from yesterday when I was conducting winter warfare training in the backyard with my sole trooper.

The weather today in front of the museum - there were several folks who didn't show up thinking today would be bad too. The weather here in the Pacific Northwest can be very goofy!

Here are pictures from the games today.

Above: French dragoons and sappers attempt to breakdown the defenses in the front of the farmhouse. This combined unit was later destroyed after failing a morale test - they took a lot of casaulties from British Rifles coming out of the sandpit.

Above: British Rifles advancing and firing on the French - all the players started with 12 figure units. I plan to reduce the Rifles unit to 8 figures, as they were a bit too powerful with their rifled muskets.

Above: Nassauers advancing to assist the KGL in the farmhouse.

Above: French Light Infantry Carabiniers assaulting the low walls of the farmhouse. Several made it over the wall and fought in hand to hand combat.

French Voltigeurs advancing towards the rear of the farmhouse.

A spectacular Battle on the Causeway Aztec v. Conquistador game run in both the morning and afternoon periods.

Games like this one made me feel fortunate to have players in my game. There weren't that many attendees - maybe 25 or so - mainly due to yesterday's weather.

Kevin Smyth's WW2 Pacific Theater game. He said the game didn't quite go exactly as he had envisioned. The Japanese, due to unusually good die rolls, managed to sink all of the Allied ships early on.

Wings of Glory WW1 aerial game.

The Patrol Phase of the Chain of Command game I played in, in the afternoon period. Note the laser doing the back azimuths for figure placement from the "locked" Jumping Off points. Although I only play these rules when my buddies host games, I do enjoy the Patrol Phase.

I ran a platoon of US Paratroopers, and thanks to very good shooting die rolls managed to destroy a platoon of Germans on their right flank.

Besides the gaming going on upstairs, the first floor has an excellent museum. It is privately funded, and showcases the sacrifices of veterans from the local area. These include those from the American Civil War to present. I took pictures of a few of the memorial displays from recent conflicts.

The one below includes the veteran's Cub Scout uniform.

Here's a picture of some of the many small arms displays throughout the museum. All of the items in the museum are private donations.

So, all in all a great game day - especially considering how I almost was not going to attend it. Thanks for stopping by, and wishing you all the best.