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SERGEANTS! - EXPANSION

So far the Soviet, German, British and Italian soldiers in the SERGEANTS! game system have had it pretty much to themselves. Oh, there’s an assortment of mortars, flamethrowers and shaped-charge weapons and that nasty German 75mm infantry gun, but it has always been the shoulder weapons that settled the issue and decided the outcome of a scenario. The SERGEANTS! – Expansion adds U. S. Army and French soldiers to that grunt mix but this is not a complete game as in the past. There are no dice, no pin markers, no fire markers and no rules for the soldiers – just use those four pages of rules, dice and pin and fire markers already included in one of the complete games, SERGEANTS! – On the Eastern Front and SERGEANTS! – In the Sand.

Yes, it is incomplete by itself, but the SERGEANTS! – Expansion adds much, much more. There is a lot here and we’re not fooling around. In fact, there is so much more that the rules for the new units and markers are eight pages long, twice that of the rules found in the complete games and there are also twice as many die-cut unit counters as in the complete games! There are two attractive, extra-large Mapboards and four exciting scenarios that include all the nationalities included in the Expansion and in both the game sets and then, there are all those other markers and units.

First, there are the objective markers. The objective markers include grounded aircraft and depot markers to guard and attack and tent and small building markers to supplement the buildings printed on the Mapboards. Then, there are those alternate ammunition markers for preliminary bombardments/craters, smoke shells to hide day movements and star shells to illuminate night movements at the worst possible moments.

Obstacle markers (dragon’s teeth/road blocks, barbed wire, minefields and antitank ditches) prevent or slow maneuvers. Entrenchment markers (foxholes and trenches) protect units in their hexes; in effect, they convert open hexes into hard cover hexes. Fortification markers (pillboxes, caves and bunkers) protect units and may be linked with underground tunnels.

Finally, there are vehicle and antitank gun units for Great Britain, France, Italy, Germany, the Soviet Union, the United States and Japan (yes, they are coming later). These include small but useful assortments of vehicles and guns from powerful tanks like the Pz-V “Panther” to armored cars, halftracks, trucks and jeeps and from pipsqueek antitank guns like the French 25mm to the powerful German 75mm. Although pure tank battles are possible, the vehicles are normally employed in ones or two to support the soldiers. Be the first on your block to teach your neighbors a good lesson by waging blitzkreig warfare for only $15.95.

The 2006 World Boardgaming Championships will again be held at the Lancaster Host Inn on August 1 – 6, 2006. Lost Battalion Games will be running events in, BATTLEGROUP,, SERGEANTS, BRAWLING BATTLESHIPS STEEL, and ENEMY IN SIGHT (which we are reprinting). The winner of each event is awarded a handsome plaque like that shown above.

PILLS & POTIONS!

ELI LILLY

During the Civil War, young Eli Lilly (1839 – 1898) raised and was captain of the 18th Independent Indiana Light Horse Artillery Battery, which was mustered in on August 20, 1862 and equipped with six 3” Rodman rifled cannon. The battery was part of the Union Army of the Cumberland and participated in all the western campaigns until mustered out on June 23, 1865.

In 1863 the battery was permanently attached to Colonel John T. Wilder’s (1830 -1917) “Lightning Brigade.” The brigade proved to be a crack unit, although Colonel Wilder was a less than inspiring commander. In 1862, he had surrendered a garrison of 4,000 men when assured by the opposing Confederate commander, General Simon B. Buckner (1823 – 1914 - noted on both sides for his honesty and sense of fair play), that it was the right thing to do in the circumstances. Wilder eventually made brevet brigadier general but never got the real rank and, mostly on sick leave due to poor health, resigned in October, 1864. The brigade was assembled in late 1862 and comprised five veteran regiments of Illinois and Indiana mounted infantry who had purchased, with their own pay checks, the deadly new Spencer repeating rifles. The brigade also conducted raids into Confederate territory to steal horses and mules to use for mounts. For a while, the unit was called the “Hatchet Brigade” as they carried long hatchets until they procured some proper cavalry sabers. The result was a self-made cavalry brigade that shot and galloped into history as the “Lightning Brigade,” and which compiled a notable combat record, especially at the Battle of Chickamauga.

Perhaps inspired by the light-fingered activities of the rest of the brigade, Lilly kept his artillerymen busy procuring off-budget items. Obtaining four twelve-pound mountain howitzers and the mules to pull them, Lilly added the irregular “Jackass Battery” under Sergeant Eli Anderson, with all necessary supporting equipment, as an informal addition to the 18th Indiana. In mid 1863, this made Lilly’s unit the largest artillery battery in the army, with six rifled cannon and four howitzers. At the Battle of Chickamauga, the “Lightning Brigade” and their Hoosier artillerymen greatly distinguished themselves, although the brigade was later broken up and its units assigned elsewhere.

Lilly moved on to become colonel of the 9th Indiana Cavalry Regiment and served through the end of the war but “Colonel Lilly”, as he was invariably styled, is most noted for his postwar career. After failing at two other business ventures, he founded his self-named Eli Lilly and Company pharmaceutical corporation in 1876 in Indianapolis, Indiana. His familiarity with the often ghastly medicines of the Civil War led him to make only high-quality prescription drugs instead of the all-too common patent medicine nostrums so popular at the time. The company was a pioneer in making insulin and prospered. Under the leadership of the Colonel Lilly’s grandson, also named Eli Lilly (1885 – 1977), who joined the company in 1907, the corporation became one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world and is still in business (sales in 2004 were $13.9 billion).

Colonel Lilly is commemorated by the “Colonel Eli Lilly Civil War Museum” in Indianapolis, Indiana. Its outdoor centerpiece “Soldiers and Sailors Monument” is a particularly imposing limestone structure, standing a little over 284 feet high (only 15 feet less than the Statue of Liberty). Many statues are included in the monument or found on the grounds, including “War”, “Peace”, “The Dying Soldier” and representative infantry, cavalry, artillery and naval statues. Finished in 1902, it cost almost $600,000 then (about $500 million would be the cost today).

A TALE FOR OUR TIMES

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS??

The “Features” Menu on our website is devoted columns of information and opinion. One of these is the “Cold Wars Stories”, a new series of columns by Phil Gardocki, each of which covers a bit of personal history about the Cold War military. If you have not yet taken the opportunity to look them over, the following is a sample:

OPPORTUNITIES FOR CLUBS AND CONVENTION ORGANIZERS!!

Our Lost Battalion Games – Club Affiliate Program supports clubs and convention planners. If contacted in a timely manner, we can support your conventions or game days with door prizes, program advertising and/or attendance including running events and securing a booth or table. We are dedicated to helping groups experience and enjoy our games. If you are interested in becoming a Lost Battalion Games – Club Affiliate, contact us at clubs@lostbattalion.com.