Monday, July 13, 2026

Iuka 1862 Valour and Fortitude Game

 

Initial Union deployment


Initial Confederate deployment


Confederate forces advance



Union forces also advance,
some battalions though the fields.


Turn three sees all the Union brigades on the table


It's pretty congested at the Union end of the table


Can the weight of Union numbers win the day?


Confederate artillery battery is deployed on a hill,
Union cavalry threaten the Confederate flank


Last Sunday Craig, Gary, Rob, Rick, Chris and I met down at Vikings Club in Lanyon for the Canberra Regional Wargames Group's monthly meeting. We played our first ACW Valour and Fortitude game, the scenario was Iuka 1862. We actually played a game of this battle about two years ago with the Osprey rules With Hot Lead and Cold Steel but the V& F game was quite different with rules and also a different take on the actual scenario. Craig, Gary and I commanded the Union brigades, Rob, Rick and Chris commanded the Confederates. The Union and Confederate forces contested the road, the main objective in the game. 

The Union forces suffered early losses and struggled to make headway. The terrain, inexperience (most Union brigades were rated green), and congestion of their forces hampering their attack. The Confederate artillery battery deployed on a hill, was effective and proved a thorn in the Union side the whole game. The Union forces eventually had some success, their weight of numbers began to tell, and the game was in the balance. In the end the Confederates managed to hold on and win the game.


Confederate and Union forces contest the
road the main objective in the game


Union forces suffer early losses


Union artillery battery is deployed


Confederate artillery battery proves effective,
a thorn in the Union side the whole game


Terrain and congestion of forces hampers the Union attack


Union forces finally have some success


Game is in the balance


Confederate forces hold on and win the game





Friday, July 10, 2026

Rome: Empire, Power, People - Melbourne Museum Exhibition Part Two

 


Dedication to Juno by twins Orestes and Pylades
1st century CE
Marble
Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano-Terme di Diocleziano


Slab with theatrical scene
1st century CE
Terracotta
Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano-Terme di Diocleziano



Various bronze statuettes,
Antefix with theatrical mask on the right
1st century CE
Clay
Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano-Palazzo Massimo


Various funerary inscriptions
First half of the 1st century CE
Marble
Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano-Terme di Diocleziano


Fresco panel from the Theatre of Nemi
1st century CE
Fresco, paint pigments on lime plaster
Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano-Terme di Diocleziano




Male torso
1st-2nd century CE
Marble
Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano-Terme di Diocleziano


Portait of a philosopher, probably Seneca
2nd century CE
Marble
Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano-Palazzo Massimo


Ointment jars, Strigil, and Funerary inscription of a masseur
1st century CE
Glass, ceramic, bronze and marble
Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano-Palazzo Massimo,
Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano-Terme di Diocleziano



Lid of a sarcophagus with gymnasium scenes
Late 2nd-3rd century CE
Marble
Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano-Terme di Diocleziano


Relief showing combat between provocatores gladiators
Ca.30 BCE
Marble
Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano-Terme di Diocleziano


Recreations of gladiators and their armour


Funerary inscription of C. Sempronius, murmillo gladiator
1st century CE
Marble
Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano-Terme di Diocleziano


Medallion of Gordiano III
238-244 CE
Orichalcum
Florence, Museo Arceologico Nazionale


Knuckle bones, gaming dice and gaming pieces
1st-3rd century CE
Bone
Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano-Terme di Diocleziano




Relief with Dioscurus
2nd century CE
Red and pavonazzetto marble
Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano-Terme di Diocleziano


Statue of Venus, Capitoline type
2nd century CE
Marble with traces of colour
Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano-Terme di Diocleziano




Fresco fragment with female figure
2nd century CE
Fresco, paint pigments on lime plaster
Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano-Terme di Diocleziano


Bust of Dionysus
1st century CE
Ancient red marble
Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano-Terme di Diocleziano


Mosaic with nymphs
2nd-3rd century CE
Glass tesserae
Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano-Terme di Diocleziano


Bronze mirror and gold rings
1st century CE, 1st-3rd century CE
Florence, Museo Archeologico Nazionale,
Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano-Palazzo Massimo


Necklace with emerald, pearls and glass vague,
Bracelet with glass paste,
4th-5th century CE,1st 2nd century CE
Gold, emeralds, pearls, glass
Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano-Palazzo Massimo


Necklace, gold earrings and
pendant earrings with garnets, emerald and pearls
4th-5th century CE
Gold, emeralds, pearls and glass
Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano-Palazzo Massimo


Portrait of a woman with curled Flavian hairstyle
1st quarter of the 2nd century CE
Italian white marble
Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano-Terme di Diocleziano


Funerary inscription for Primilla, hairdresser
First half of the 1st century CE
Marble
Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano-Terme di Diocleziano





Oil holder and Funerary inscription for Erotis, barber
1st century CE
Glass and marble
Florence, Museo Arceologico Nazionale,
Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano-Terme di Diocleziano







Various cups, glasses, jugs and oil lamps




Funerary inscription for Tyrannus, cook to Claudius
Mid-1st century CE
Marble
Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano-Terme di Diocleziano




Funerary inscription of Heracla
First half of the 1st century CE
Marble
Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano-Terme di Diocleziano


Inscribed oracle
1st-3rd century CE
Bronze
Florence, Museo Arceologico Nazionale


Bust of Minerva, goddess of war and crafts
2nd-3rd century CE
Fine-grain white marble
Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano-Terme di Diocleziano


Statuettes of gods
1st-3rd century CE
Bronze
Florence, Museo Arceologico Nazionale


Architectural mask of Jupiter
1st-3rd century CE
Marble
Florence, Museo Arceologico Nazionale


Statue of Bacchus
2nd century CE
Marble
Florence, Museo Arceologico Nazionale












Mosaic with scene of sacrifice
2nd-3rd century CE
White, black and red limestone
Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano-Terme di Diocleziano



Fresco of the hypogeum of the Octavians
3rd century CE
Fresco, paint pigments on lime plaster
Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano-Terme di Diocleziano


Curse against Malchio and Rufus
First half of the 1st century CE
Lead
Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano-Terme di Diocleziano



Funerary Urn
1st-2nd century CE
Alabaster
Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano-Terme di Diocleziano


Funerary inscription of Gemella
First half of the 1st century CE
Marble
Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano-Terme di Diocleziano





Portrait of Lucius Verus mounted on Renaissance bust
161-169 CE (head), late 16th century (bust)
White marble
Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano-Palazzo Altemps


Reconstruction of a mullioned window
12th-13th century CE
Marble
Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano-Crypta Balbi


Products of early medieval workshop in Rome
7th century CE
Bronze, lead, iron, bone, ivory, ceramic
Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano-Crypta Balbi


Medal, sestertius, reliquary cross, and disc with monogram
1835, 150-151 CE, 7th century CE
Minted bronze, lead and glass
Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano-Palazzo Massimo,
Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano-Crypta Balbi



Sundial with zodiac symbol
1st century BCE-1st century CE
Marble
Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano-Terme di Diocleziano


Iuka 1862 Valour and Fortitude Game

  Initial Union deployment Initial Confederate deployment Confederate forces advance Union forces also advance, some battalions though the f...