Ummagumma

This is the start of the game as set up on my gaming table. The same at-start situation as it appears in the VASSAL computer module of the game.  Wargame tools like VASSAL, Cyberboard , and ADC allow the player to tinker with and play games on the PC.  This speeds setup, allows for multiple games to be played at the same time, and, in my case, allows me to setup "monster" sized games larger than the space of my gaming table allows. Off and on since April I have been playing Fall of the Third Reich (FOTR), a new wargame release by Compass Games. The demise of Nazi Germany has always been a special interest of mine in terms of history and I have explored it before with games like Rise and Decline of the Third Reich and End of the Iron Dream .  FOTR is a Ted Raicer design. I have enjoyed Ted's games for many years, most recently The Dark Valley , a strategic East Front game.  I have acknowledged my affinity for the history and simulation of the Eastern Front pr

Someone named A.B. Poole applied for Sampson's Confederate pension in 1904. My ancestor could not read or write.  On this document Poole claims to have known Sampson for "about fifty years".  His first date of service is given as "Oct. 1861. Charleston S.C. Co. D 1st S.C. Bat. Afterwards part of 27th Reg. S.C. Vol." At this point Poole writes "I was there."  He comments that "we messed together" in reference to Sampson, for "nearly four years".  Asked when and where Sampson surrendered Poole wrote: "1865 near Wilmington N. C. at a little creek, called 'Town Creek', I believe."  Poole states that he surrendered with Sampson. Years ago, maybe decades now, I visited the regional library and researched through microfiche to find my Confederate ancestor's Pension records . The records date from the years 1904 – 1907 and contain various details of my ancestor, including his dates of service and the units in whi