Three days at Gettysburg part two

Hi again everyone; When I last posted the group was heading back to the hotel for some R&R.

Actually; my sister Gina had studying to do, the kids went swimming, while John and I went back to the battlefield and took a whirlwind tour of the rest of the stops. Here now are photos from the battlefield stops we made.

North Carolina Memorial, looking across the battlefield to the Union lines.

North Carolina had a large number of soldiers at this battle and their units were in the thick of the fighting, suffering thousands of casualties. The field in this photo is the scene of Picketts Charge. You can see the white Union monuments across the field.

Bronze soldiers from North Carolina perpetually look and point towards their destination.

A short distance away, along Seminary Ridge is the Virginia Memorial.

This amazing structure can be clearly seen from the Union/Northern side about a mile away.General Lee sits on top his horse, Traveler, looking out on the fields he committed over 12,000 men to cross on the third day (July 3rd 1863).

The soldiers below represent the different trades and civilian status that soldiers of Virginia represented in the way. Merchant, Farmer, Teacher, Tradesman.

A Confederate Encampment, in the woods near where thousands of other Confederate Soldiers "camped" out in July of 1863.

The new statue of General James Longstreet.

After Stonewall Jackson died, Longstreet became Lee's top commander. However they had a difference of opinion on how this battle was fought.

Three days at Gettysburg, 2008 style

Hello everyone; It's been a long time since I posted anything of note here, but a family trip to Gettysburg is plenty of reason now.

On July 18, 19 and 20th my boys (Josh 19 years old and Chris 15) and I, plus Josh's girlfriend, Nicole took a weekend trip to Gettysburg. We were joined by my sister Gina and her husband John and her two sons (Jonathan 16 yrs old and Matt, 13). I had been to Gettysburg twice before but years ago. Nobody else in our group had ever been there, so it was a real trip of discovery.



To be honest, the draw to the kids for this visit was two Ghost Tours we went on Friday and Saturday night. What they also learned was that a battle of immense proportions was fought here, highlighted by acts of bravery and heroics in conditions the kids would never want to face, as well as immense tragedy and loss. And it's only an hour and a half from here.

Major General Joshua Chamberlain says it best in the photo up above. This was taken by Nicole at the Gettysburg Visitors Center. I'll write out below, what is written in the first photo, it's almost like he knew we were coming and "ghost hunting" as well as touring the battlefield was on our itinerary.


"In great deeds something abides. On great fields something stays;

Forms change and pass, bodies disappear, but spirits linger.....

And reverent men and women from afar, and generations that...we know not of.....(are) drawn to see where...great things were suffered and done for them..."

A great place to start any visit to the battlefield, that had the kids amazed at how many people were there. "Yes kids, Mr. Joe is not the only history buff in the world":-)

Actually, lets back up to Friday night, when we got there.

We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn, right on Route 30 and just minutes from downtown

All the modern amenities as well as an indoor pool and jacuzzi. We made sure the 5 kids had time to enjoy that.

On Friday night, we went on a Ghost Tour train ride, along the edge of the battlefield and to an old engine house, that has been the site of paranormal activity. It was a nice, but pricey trip.

Below is the engine and a bit of the passenger cars. There was full narration by the guide as we rolled along, lots of good stories about the battle and paranormal activity.

The train pulled into the engine house and a CD was played featuring Ghost Hunter and Author; Mark Nesbitt. On the CD were tracks that featured ghostly answers to his questions.

On this tour, Josh and Nicole did not join us, as Josh had to work till 5pm and wouldn't be getting to G-Burg until 8PM. The photos below are of the train station (circa 1880s), Chris and Jonathan checking text messages or photos on a cell phone and a bit of the countryside as we rolled through it. This farm was used as a hospital during the battle.





But when we got back to the station we called Josh and he and Nicole met us for dinner. Earlier, before the train ride, the six of us walked around the heart of Gettysburg, visited a few shops and got our bearings. Gettysburg is a great small city, that's very clean, very friendly and with plenty of shopping and restaurants.

Dinner was right downtown at a place called "The Pub" and was a welcome break to the chain restaurants we normally go to. We took up two tables, with the four boys at one table and Nicole sitting with John, Gina and I. One glance at the boys table, shows another reason why we came here, the boys have such a great time together, they are always all smiles when they're together.

On Saturday, we all went to the Gettysburg Battlefield, starting with the brand new Visitors Center.

The Visitors Center is very large and very well done. We spent about an hour in there, including watching a 15 minute movie narrated by Morgan Freeman. It was well done, fast paced and kept the kids attention, while at the same time setting the framework for our tour of the actual battlefield.

Pictured below is the visitors center, and displays inside of it. Everywhere you looked there was something to see and many stirring stories of what it was like for soldiers and civilians in that battle. For the kids, this was a chance to see actual items used in the battle and found on the battlefield. Seeing an actual flag that flew in 1863 for a Union or Confederate regiment is a great history lesson.

After the visitors center we caravaned along the park roads, Gina, John and their boys in their jeep and me and my crew in the van. There are over 15 stopping points in the park, plus many more areas to pull over and look at a monument or statue.

Speaking of monuments, the shear number of them, placed by individual regiments or units or states involved is amazing. And many of them were erected in the 1880s or early 1900s, which also amazed the kids. I imagine the kids think that life was rustic and people lived in log cabins up until the 1970s. Just today (July 28th) Nicole mentioned how much she liked the various statues and the craftsmanship put into them and how good they looked for being made so long ago.

The picture below is of the 5 kids in front of the spot where Union General John Reynolds was fatally shot, while directing his troops on the first day of battle.

In the back row, from left to right, you have Christopher, Josh and Jonathan and in front you have Nicole and Matt. The second photo is myself, Josh and Chris. The parts of the battlefield we toured that Saturday morning/ mid-afternoon was the scene of the first days fighting. Pictured below are some of the sites along the tour road.
First photo is a monument erected by veterans of a Pennsylvania Volunteer Regiment.


Second photo is one of two observation towers, gave us a great birdseye view of the surrounding area.Third photo here is looking down at some of the numerous monuments to regiments and other units, that fought in this part of the battle. The monuments are overwhelmingly Union, since it was a Union victory on Northern soil. But at the end of the first day that victory was the farthest thing from the yankees mind.

By 2:00 pm, we were all getting hot and hungry, so we decided to take a break and get some lunch down in Gettysburg and then head back to the hotel so the kids could get some pool time in.
Later that night, we were due for a ghost tour put on my "Ghosts of Gettysburg, Candlelight Walking Tours"

I think I'll post this for now and come back in a day or two with the next chapter of our story.

Mr. Joe

Battle of Santiago in 1/1000 scale part 2

In my last post, I related about the actual battle of Santiago and our recreation on the tabletop, using 1/1000 scale Houstons Ships and the Age of Iron rules, Age of the Dreadnought, Armored Ships come of Age. There were three players and myself as the GM. None of us had played these rules before, but we are all experienced gamers. By turn 3 or 4, everyone knew what they had to do, what modifires they needed on dice rolls and where to look in the rule book. I had laminated the QRF chart that comes with it, and promptly left it buried under a bunch of papers, where it was no use to anyone.

Les Mansir (Adm. Cervera) was quickly learning that his primary guns were really no use against the American Battleships and had to wait for the range to close up. Meanwhile, the hits were starting to mount up as the American gunners found the range.
The Spanish Squadron steams out of Santiago Harbor and into to waiting arms of the Americans.

As happened in the real battle, the American commanders did not know which direction the Spanish would go when they came out. I tasked Les with generally following the route taken in 1898 by the Spanish. All movement and range was measured in centimeters, due to the large size of the ships and the large (but not large enough) table. We played on an 8' x 6' table.

In the pictures below, we first have the Vixen leading the Gloucester in to the battle.

Here is an original photo of the Armed Yacht Gloucester. She engaged both the Pluton and Furor in a furious gun duel, all the while getting caught by tall columns of shell splashes from the American Battleships.The American noose tightens, as the Spanish ships make a turn to starboard upon exiting the harbor entrance. As the range closed, the negative modifiers started changing to positive modifires and that meant trouble for the Spanish ships. By turn 6, the Cristobal Colon had some major damage and Critical Damage, which effected it's speed and turning ability. The Viscaya had also been hit.

The small ships mill about and we had a real melee. Here the Vixen and Gloucester pierce the line and intercept the Pluton and Furor, while the Brooklyn and Almirante Oquendo trade broadsides.

By turn 8, the Furor was sunk by the combined gunfire of the Armored Cruiser USS New York and the Armed Yacht Vixen. Here's an 1898 illustration of the TBD Furor being pursued.

The Booklyn pierces the Spanish line.

While the Infanta Maria Teresa puts some water between her and the Americans.

The grey pile of debris you see in the above photo is to simulate a reef, that is another obstacle to the Spanish and forces them to turn to port a bit for open water. Meanwhile I instructed Admiral Sampson (Dick Caldwell) that the Indiana had developed engine trouble and her max speed would be 10 knots instead of 15.

In the photos below, you can see how close the action was for the rest of the Spanish ships.

The BB Texas even sunk the TBD Pluton by Torpedo attack and some excellent dice rolls by Indy.

In this photo the New York nearly runs over the tiny Vixen, while the Pluton is last seen trying to get a Torpedo shot on the Texas.

"Torpedo markers are in the Water" A burning Cristobal Colon tries to keep station while the Viscaya gets a short ranged torpedo attack by the Brooklyn and the trailing Oquendo gets the "Measuring Fingers of Doom" by Commodore Schley (Indy) as he estimates the range from the Texas to the Almirante Oquendo.

The Oquendo would be sunk by gunfire from the Texas and New York on Turn 10. By the last few turns of the game 8-10, Les was so busy marking damage to his ships stat sheets that he could barely think of firing his own guns. In the rules, as a ship takes hull damage, it starts loosing speed, weaponry and turning ability.

The end came as the Infanta Maria Teresa steamed off the table and into "Game" history.

I had one more test up my sleeve for the Americans as they congratulated themselves on a wonderful victory. As happened in the real battle, an alarm went out that a Spanish Battleship was seen approaching. The USS Brooklyn hurried over to investigate and make ready for further combat. The ship was a warship and the flag had the unmistakable red bars on the flag.

I quickly quizzed Admiral Sampson and Commodore Schley as to what this ship could be. I had no miniature to put out, so I described the scene for the Americans. Adm Sampson (Dick Caldwell) quicky deduced that the flag was the red and white flag of Austria and not the red and yellow flag of Spain. Then I described the signal flags flying from my mystery ship stating "This is an Austrian Ship, Please do not fire". The Austrian ship was looking for a place to spend the night and thought Santiago looked like a good port on the charts. In real life, the Americans asked them to anchor 20 miles out to sea, but the Austrians went out 40 miles, to be sure there was no more confusion. Amazingly enough the Austrian ship was named the Maria Theresa too.

Here's a photo of that very ship. "SMS Kaisein und Konigin Maria Theresa"

In wrapping this up, I want to first say how much fun this project was to do. Doing the research of this battle and naval combat of the time, coming up with ideas for the ship status sheets, getting photos of the actual ships, all are part of the fun for me.

We play 15mm WWII every Monday night at The Arena and every Wednesday night at Renaissance Games, after a while it becomes a blur, but preparing a game like this, for a different era and type of combat, and being the GM (Game Master) was a whole new thing for me. I enjoyed this game as much as the three players did. Speaking of the 3 players; having three good friends who enjoy this as much as I do, really made for a great game.

And now, after hosting this game, both Les and Dick want to have their own fleets of 1/1000 scale ships, which means that all of these ships will be on the table top again in the near future.
Right where they belong.
Good Gaming;
Mr. Joe

The naval battle of Santiago Cuba 1898 in 1/1000 scale

During the Spanish American War of 1898, there came a time when the U.S. forces were besieging the Cuban city of Santiago by land and at sea. A Spanish Squadron under the command of Admiral Cervera was anchored in the Santiago harbor. Admiral Cervera was ordered by Spain to make a breakout attempt as soon as possible, lest the four Armored Cruisers and two Torpedo Boat Destroyers were captured by the Americans. The Admiral knew a powerful American force of several Battleships and Armored Cruisers awaited him. He also knew that it was almost suicide to try. But in 1898, Honor and Dignity, held special meaning to the combatants and Admiral Cervera would do what could be done to save his fleet.
On a Sunday morning, July 3rd 1898, the Spanish Squadron consisting of Armored Cruisers: Infanta Maria Teresa, Cristobal Colon, Viscaya and Almirante Oquendo, along with Torpedo Boat Destroyers Pluton and Furor, steamed out of the Santiago Harbor and into the guns of the American fleet.
The Americans had four battleships (Oregon, Iowa, Indiana and Texas) present, as well as two Amored Cruisers (New York and Brooklyn) and two Armed Yachts, Gloucester and Vixen.

The American Navy had been humiliated by the destruction of the battleship Maine in Havana harbour, which we now know was accidental. They did not know it then and all blame landed on Spain. the American Navy was out for Spanish blood and to show the world and US population that they were ready for the world stage.

On April 21st 2008, I and a few friends attempted to recreate this battle using 1/1000 scale ships. The rules are from the Age of Iron ruleset and titled Age of the Dreadnought.
The ships are "Houston Ships" brand.
We played at The Arena game store in Eldersburg, the following photos will tell the story of our battle off the shores of Cuba.
The American ships lie in wait off the harbor entrance. In the foregrouund is the Armored Cruiser Brooklyn, followed by the older Battleship Texas and then the Iowa, Oregon and Indiana (not sure which of the three last ships is which at this point).

In the next picture, the Spanish Squadron led by the Flagship, Infanta Maria Teresa steam out of Santiago harbor, flags proudly flying, all hands at their stations

If you notice the fort on the hill, overlooking the entrance to Santiago harbor, that came from a visit by me to the life size version in Old San Juan Puerto Rico in April 2006. The name of the fort is Il Moro and it's a great place to visit. Being a wargamer, I just had to buy that miniature fort for future use and so it came to be.
A closer view of the fort as the Almirante Oquendo and two torpdeo boats sail by.

Pictures by Indy and myself.

Spanish Admiral Cervera gave a moving speech to his crews, before they went on their final cruise. I am including a copy of it here.
"Crewmen of my Squadron!
"The solemn moment of fighting has come. The sacred name of Spain and the glorious honor of her flag so demands. I want you to assist me in this rendezvous with the enemy dressed in our full-dress uniforms.
"I know my order has surprised you because of its inadequacy but its the uniform which Spanish sailors dress in the great solemnities and I do not believe that there is a more solemn time that that when a soldier is going to die for his fatherland.
"The enemy covets our old and glorious hulls. They have sent the whole power of their young navy against us so as to achieve this goal, but they will be only able to take the splinters of our ships, and they will only be able to take our sabers from us when, as corpses, we remain floating in this waters which belonged and belongs to Spain. My sons, the enemy is superior to us in strength but they are not in courage. Hoist the flag and surrender no ship. Crewmen of my squadron, up with Spain! "
Lets take a minute to meet our modern day commanders.
Our Admiral Sampson (Overall American fleet commander) was Dick Caldwell.
Mark Kochte (Indy) was Commodore Schley. The following picture shows them each studying up on their ships capabilities. Indy is the one wearing the black vest.Admiral Cervera was Les Mansir; here's a photo of Les, going over his ship stats.

As the Spanish ships come out, the lead ship Infanta Maria Teresa, fires it's forward main gun at the American ships. Golf tees serve as shell splashes. (a great idea by Dick Caldwell) The Spanish Armored Cruisers main armament consisted of a single turret fore and aft with a single 11" gun.

The Americans respond in kind with a few more shell splashes. 12" and 13" guns on the Battleships, 8" main guns on the Cruisers.

I do want to take this time to thank two internet sites, that really had great information.

The first was at http://www.spanamwar.com/

This site has all the info about this battle and the rest of the Spanish American War, you could want. I recommend it highly.

Another site is a wargaming site and where I was able to ask questions and get feedback from fellow gamers world wide, when putting this together; http://www.theminiaturespage.com/

I made the Ships Stat sheets in Power Point, with ideas from the Space Combat game "Full Thrust" and Indy. Each Ship Status sheet had the Game stats, plus real stats of a ship, plus an actual photo of that particular ship. Here are photos of the USS New York (on the left) and Spanish Armored Cruiser Viscaya (on the right) as an example.

Besides recreating the battle, I also slipped in some real issues faced by the commanders at the time. In 1898, the Americans were not exactly ready for a Spanish breakout at that time and so many of their ships had to build up steam first, and then speed. In game terms, I made the American ships have to go a couple of turns before they could be at full speed. Also, Admiral Sampson and the Cruiser New York were some miles away from the mouth of Santiago harbor when the Spanish came out. I placed the miniature New York off the table to the American right and it would be several turns before that ship could get there, so Dick was temporarily a Captain of an American battleship and taking Squadron Commands from Commodore Schley (Indy).

Another even that took place, in the very early stages of the American pursuit of the Spanish back in 1898 was that the Brooklyn, with Commdore Schley on the bridge, turned to Starboard instead of Port and this nearly caused a collision between the Brooklyn and Texas. I tasked Indy with making that happen in 1/1000 scale. The picture below shows the "Turn Template" of the Brooklyn seemingly aiming at the Texas.

Indy's a good helmsman and the two ships just missed each other. In real life, the Texas had to do an emergency reverse to avoid a collision. On the bridge of the Brooklyn, when the crew said to Commodore Schley, "Sir, watch out for the Texas", Schley (his blood was up) "Damn the Texas, let her watch out for herself."
The Infanta Maria Teresa takes the first hit, as the rest of the Spanish Squadron comes out to the open sea.

Looking a bit closer at some of the ships; Here's the Brooklyn, which unfortunately came to me in 2004/2005 without it's main gun turrets. Someday I'll get around to contacting the manufacturer and getting them.
Here's the Almirante Oquendo. My research shows this to be the color scheme of the Spanish navy then. This is one of the American Battleships (The Oregon). In real life, this ship sailed all the way from Puget Sound-Seattle in Washington State to Jupiter Inlet in Florida, a journey of 14,700 nautical miles and she did it in 67 days. Also remember that back then, ships burned coal and so that meant stopping and re-coaling along the way. Burning 10 tons of coal an hour for an average speed of 12 knots, the "black gang" had to keep the hungry fireboxes fed for two months, around the clock, using only shovels


The Armored Crusier New York. This was the flagship of the American fleet and Admiral Sampson was on board. He and the New York were on their way to meet up with the American General of ground forces, besieging Santiago when the Spanish came out. In real life, Admiral Sampson and the New York missed the battle. A very bitter pill for the Admiral, who had planned for this moment. My choice of US ship colors also comes from research I did which shows the American ships went to a wartime gray. I picked these colors as looking good for this time period. I think it's a craft paint; Pewter Grey.

Back in 1898, Squadron Commanders communicated orders such as formation by signal flags. The rules call for this type of communications between the flagship and ships of that squadron at the beginning of each turn. I then used powerpoint to come up with "Squadron Command" sheets, that Indy, Dick or Les could put down to communicate their orders to the other ships. Again, I went to the internet and The Miniatures Page for some ideas. Here's a view of some of those sheets. It added a fun factor to the game, as you had to roll dice to see if all ships understood the orders.

I think I will close and publish this post for now and come back to tell the rest of the story next week. Here's some final photos of the Spanish ships making their way out of the harbor and the poor little Pluton getting rocked by near misses.
enjoy; mr. Joe