Steve's Paintingshed

Kitchen Tables and Back to the Back of Beyond

2012-02-03T19:12:00.000Z

So, with the 1809 campaign done, disted and available for any PBEM or similar bug that grabs me I can turn my attention back to an old favourite - The Back of Beyond!

It was a BoB game that kicked-off this blog; a demo game at Salute using 28mm figures. While I still have these figures tucked away I am also experimenting with some 10mm stuff from Pendraken, painted up in a rudimentary manner and then finished with Army Painter soft tone. The first few are drying as I type and I'll post some photos over the weekend once they have been matt varnished.

This 10mm project is part of my current drive towards "kitchen table wargaming". This is a similar concept to Richard Clarke's "snack pot gaming" mentioned in his column is Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy. In essence it is a response to

not having the time or inclination at the moment to paint large numbers of figures, or paint larger figures requiring lots of effort and detailing
Wanting to play games in the warm, rather that the garage
Wasting to play quick and easy games - I'm still keen on grids at the moment

My kitchen table is just a shade under 5 x 3 feet and I have been giving some thought to how best to fit interesting games onto this. My napoleonic "square" rules shoudl work well. On a bigger table, using TSS tiles the grid used is made up of 20cm squares (9 squares to a 60cm x 60cm tile) and this means a "standard" wargames table of 6 x 4 feet would give a grid of 6 x 9 squares.

A little scaling down of the grid to use 15cm/6in squares means that the same games can fit onto the kitchen table and actually give a "wider" game as this will measure the same 6 squares across but will be 10 squares wide. The change means that the TSS tiles aren't so viable, but I have a 6 x 4 gree felt cloth that doesn't get much use and which could be easily "gridded" - I'd just marke the vertices with dots or crosses rather than drawing a full grid. As the napoleonic rules use 1 square = 1km (approx), a 10 x 6km battlefield should cope with a reasonably sized battle. Bigger games can be played at the club on Wednesdays or wait until the summer when the garage is more practical.

For the BoB my current thoughts are to use the same grid (but probably on a brown cloth or a baseboard) and develop suitable rules. Using a grid and some basic wooden or polystyrene squares will allow me to build up suitable hills and mountain passes for the likes of Afghanistan. This may not be the absolute pinnacle of aesthetics but I think it can be made to look quite good with a bit of effort and imagination.

The tricky bit now comes in the form of scaling battles appropriately. My main interest is in battles where the basic unit being shoved around is the company, each battle perhaps having around a brigade-equivalent per side - somewhere between 12 and 18 "units" - companies, squadrons, gun sections, etc.

To begin the process of pulling some rules together I have done what I always do first - get a few figures together to decide what looks "right" for a unit. In this case, with the 10mm figures a company of 8 figures - 1 officer/nco and 7 other ranks looks OK and for now I have based these in pairs on 1p pieces, with 2p pieces for MG teams and higher-echelon commanders.

So, we have our 8-figure "company", four of which will produce a battalion in most armies, along with a base of officers as battlaion command. MGs can be allocated as support either as single bases, or fielded as an MG company of 3 or 4 bases grouped together. As with the napoleonic rules I think a square should hold a maximum of 4 units and a few supports such as individual MG bases or gun bases (each representing a section). Grouping MGs or Guns into larger formations (MG companies or batteries) will offer some advantage but will in return take up a greater number of "slots" in a square.

Moving forward, then, a square can hold the equivalent of a battlion of infantry in a formation equivalent to a 2-company frontage with 2 companies in reserve. This approximates (very roughly on the back of an envelope) to the 15cm square representing up to 500m x 500m.

From here I can start to rough out some ranges. Rifle fire can easily penetrate into an adjacent square and probably one square further (except perhaps for untrained troops who could be limited to the close range only). Keeping ranges down a little is important if the game is to be contained within the boundaries of the kitchen table and also allow for artillery, etc.

In the napoleonic rules I use the mechanism of different dice types to represent different abilities - as is the case in Force on Force and I think I'd like to stick with this. By separating out different factors of ability it is possible to give some character to the units. My first thought are to rate units for shooting, melee and morale. There is a subtle difference between units which are good at fighting but have average morale viz-a-viz units with an average ability but high morale. The former can be a bit fragile whereas the latter can get overwhelmed but have a distict "stickability" in the face of battle. The system of recording "hits" etc has yet to be really thought about. Blackpowder currently feels like a reasonable model to use as a base for adaptation, but I also like more in-period rules such as Red Actions - so there is plenty to have a go at.

That is really about as far as I have got for now. I'll post more as the ideas develop. At this stage I'll concentrate mainly on the infantry and MG mechanics and then try to add-in cavalry, armoured cars, artillery, aeroplanes, etc.

Lastly, then. For those who are unfamiliar with this period, what kinds of match-ups am I planning? Well, there are lots of possibilities but the following are the ones foremost in my mind at the moment:

1. Smaller actions of the campaign in Mesopotamia (Brits v Turks)
2. Dunsterforce's adventures in and around Baku (Brits v Persian tribesmen, Brits & local militias v Turks)
3. The Malleson Mission in Transcaspia (British and Indian troops allied to Mensheviks and Turkoman tribes vs Bolsheviks) with a full complement of armoured trains
4. The attacks by the Turkish 3rd Army [The Army of Islam] under Enver Pasha agains the Russians in the Caucusus (Turks v pre-revolutionary Russians)
5. Third Afghan War (British and Indian army vs Afghan tribes and regulars)

British, Russian and Turkish figures are all easily available in 10mm from Pendraken, as are afghan tribesmen. Other forces can probably be put toghether from other stuff in their range.

More soon!

1809 Campaign: Neustadt Aftermath 21st April

2012-02-01T22:53:00.000Z

The map above shows the positions of the armies following the battle of Neustadt.

The battle itself was nasty, brutush and short. On the French left Davout was overwhelmed by the Austrian IV Korps, Grenadiers and Cavalry Reserve. Despite some spirited counterattacking, there was little that could be done other than retreat with the few survivirs of his proud veterans.

The right flank fared better and with the arrival of Massena they drove hard into III and VI Korps but failed to inflict a decisive defeat.

Both armies are again licking their woulds but with the imminent arrival of I and II Korps the Austrians would appear to have the upper hand. At this stage I feel that Napoleon would be likely to withdraw in the short-term until more reinforcements could be secured.

3rd Corps (Davout) has almost ceased to exist, however its remaining two infantry divisions and the light cavalry are about to re-join. These will be strengthened by incorporating the Bavarians into a new formation under the command of Davout - if only to spare his blushes. 2nd Corps (Lannes) remains relatively fresh and 4th Corps (Massena) has suffered just a few casulaties but must fall back to a position on a line of supply.

The Austrians now need to rest IV Korps as a matter of urgency and both III and VI Korps are in need of some recovery. The army has secure lines of supply however and are surely buoyed by two victories over the French.

Vienna seems safe, for now...

This was an enjoyable campaign and the map and rules ideas seem sound, so I can replay this in the future, perhaps with some real players!

cheers
Steve

Plans for Jan/Feb

2012-01-28T16:02:00.003Z

Hi all

The Battle of Neustadt will be fought as a game on Wednesday at the Newark Irregulars. Anyone who can make it along is welcome. Kick off should be by 7.30.

This has meant spending time today (and tomorrow) making sure units are correctly labelled for the battle. One day I'll make some more permenant labels, but this is complicated by the armies changing structure during the 1809 campaign - divisions swapping between corps, etc.

Next weekend I'll need to tidy up my 28mm Dark Age early Saxons for a game on the following weekend - as well as catching the start of the six-nations tournament.

Once THAT is out of the way I'll be turning back toward the Back of Beyond by doing some writing, scenario design, etc using my 28mm collection and adding to my miniatures with some Pendraken 10mm. First steps will be some painting of the new little chaps ane a re-read of Peter Hopkirk's "Like Hidden Fire". Hopefully I'll get this into a magazine article later in the year, probably on the Malleson Mission but possibly covering Dunsterforce or the 3rd Afghan War (or maybe touching on all 3!). Either way it'll feature lots of Wolesley Helmets and dust...

I'm not planning much else with any intensity for the rest of 2012; just chipping away at BoB and keeping tinkering with the 6mm naps in readiness for a push towards 2015 and the grand Waterloo bicentenniel.

I'll report back on the battle after Wednesday.

cheers

Neustadt Order of Battle

2012-01-20T21:55:00.001Z

Approximate Order of Battle for Neustadt.

21st April 1809:

Austria

CinC: Archduke Charles

III Korps: Hohenzollern
8 Infantry
1 Mixed Brigade
1 Light Cavalry
2 Foot Artillery

IV Korps: Rosenberg
6 Infantry
1 Mixed Brigade
2 Light Cavalry
2 Foot Artillery

VI Korps: Hiller
4 Infantry
1 Mixed Brigade
2 Foot Artillery

Grenadiers: Leichtenstein
4 Grenadiers

Cavalry Reserve: Hessen-Homburg
4 Heavy Cavalry
3 Light Cavalry
1 Cavalry Artillery

Total: 18 INF, 4 GREN, 3 MIXED, 4 HC, 6 LC, 6 FOOT ART, 1 CAV ART

France

CinC: Emperor Napoleon

3rd Corps: Davout (inc 1st HC)
7 Infantry
3 Heavy Cavalry
1 Foot Artillery
1 Horse Artillery

2nd Corps: Lannes (inc 2nd HC)
7 Infantry
2 Heavy Cavalry
2 Light Cavalry
1 Foot Artillery
1 Horse Artillery

8th Corps: Vandamme
3 Infantry
2 Light Cavalry
1 Foot Artillery

4th Corps: Massena (inc 3rd HC)
12 Infantry
2 Heavy Cavalry
3 Light Cavalry
1 Foot Artillery
1 Horse Artillery

Initial Total: 17 INF, 5 HC, 4 LC, 3 FOOT ART, 2 HORSE ART

Reinforced Total: 29 INF, 7 HC, 7 LC, 4 FOOT ART, 3 HORSE ART

1809 Campaign, 21st April Battle of Neustadt

2012-01-20T21:31:00.001Z

Here is a rough idea of the potential for battle around Neustadt. The Austrians have advanced III and IV Korps with the reserves (Grenadiers and Cavalry) behind both and IV Korps covering the left (southern) flank.

The French have brought up Davout's 3rd Corps (well, 3 divisions of it anyway), with Lannes's 2nd Corps to its right, supported by 8th Corps. Davout and Lannes each have a heavy cavalry division attached. Massena's 4th Corps is en route and will arrive at a point close to where 8th Corps deploys; along with a third heavy cavalry division.

The Durnbucher Forst dominates the centre of the battlefield, dividing it into two major zones of open terrain. The French infantry will find the forest less of an obstacle than the Austrians will, but it will still slow them down, particulalrly the less experienced conscripts.

This appears to present the Austrians with an opportunity to strike hard at Davout while holding off the rest of Napoleon's army. The arrangement of the road network and the river Abens means that 4th Corps will not easily be able to slip around the Austrian flank.

From a wargamer's viewpoint this looks like an interesting battle to play out on the table and could make a good game for the club meeting on Feb 1st...

1809 Campaign: 21st April, 6pm

2012-01-15T20:17:00.002Z

By 6pm on the 21st the situation is as shown on the map above. The Austrian I and II Korps have been frustratingly slow to march and the main body is in danger of being overwhelmed.

At this point, Archduke Charles is (I feel) overwhelmingly likely to order a withdrawal back towards reinforcements, however the French may not let him...

My next step is to work out a more detailed map of the combat area and then see how realisitic an Austrian withdrawal will be.

More soon...

1809 Campaign: 21st April orders

2012-01-15T20:10:00.000Z

After a quiet day fo ordering up reinforcements and resting the more tired formations, both armies are now better prepared to renew hostilities.
Austria:
The army will manouvre to fall upon the main body of the enemy in the vicinity of Vohberg, maintaining a strong right to defend against any assaults across the Danube.

III and IV Korps will form the vanguard of the attack, supported by VI Korps and the reserve grenadiers and cavalry.

V Korps will form the right-flank guard, covering the river crossings stretching west from Kelheim

I Korps is to advance with all possible speed to join the main body

II Korps is to act as a strategic reserve and should march upon Teugn-Hausen

France:
The army is to reassert itself and will do so by both facing the enemy in the field and threatening his lines of supply and retreat.

4th Corps including 3rd HC will march initially to Mainburg before turing north to attack the enemy by way of Mainburg

3rd Corps (1st, 2nd and 3rd Infantry Divisions) will advance upon Neustadt. If the enemy are encountered as expected, the formation will hold its position in preparation for a general attack upon the arrival of reinforcements.

2nd Corps will follow behind 3rd Corps. If the enemy are encountered then 2nd Corps will form to the right of 3rd Corps to give battle. Opportunity for aggression should be sought.

8th Corps will march via Geisenfeld to act as a link between the moan body of 2nd/3rd Corps and the flanking march of 4th Corps.

7th Corps and the attached divisions will cross the Danube and re-form at Vohburg. The Heavy Cavalry divisions are to continue their march to support 2nd and 3rd Corps.

3rd Corps, 5th division is to act as rearguard for 7th Corps.

1809 Campaign: 20th April Map

2012-01-08T13:01:00.001Z

Map done sooner than expected.

I smell another battle soon.

NB: acting on the suggestion of St Hilaire, Lefebvre has left III/5 as a rearguard at Kelheim.

What has been interesting so far - compared to other campaigns I have fought in, is the way that manoevre is so dominated by logistical concerns (i.e. staying on the solid roads and only using the dotted ones if there is a safe [supplied] end point). This shows just what a gamble some flank attacks can be - especially if they fail.

1809 Campaign: orders for 20th April

2012-01-08T12:46:00.001Z

Both sides now need to regroup and take stock after the momentous events of the past day.

The French orders are as follows:

Napoleon with 3rd and 8th Corps will hold at Vohberg and await the arrival of 2nd Corps under Lannes & Oudinot
Soult with 4th Corps will leave a garrison at Pfaffenhofen and march, with 3rd HC div, to Geisenfeld to cover Napoleon's right flank
Lefebvre with his 7th Corps (Bavarians) plus the 4th and 5th Divisions of 3rd Corps, 1st and 2nd HC and the LC of 3rd Corps will move along the north bank of the Danube to Neustadt.

The Austrians:

I and II Korps will leave a garrison at Regensburg and march to Abbach, sending forward scouts to find IV Korps
IV Korps itself will hold at Teugn/Hausen
The main body of the army: III, V and VI Korps, Grenadier reserve and Cavalry reserve will hold in the vicinity of Abensburg.

The Austrians will be more likely to be able to collect some of their walking wounded and stragglers as they held the battlefield. This gives them something of an advantage. In some ways it would have been good to send the cavalry reserve in pursuit of Napoleon but the HC had tired themselves in their support of V and VI Korps and the LC were on the opposite flank of the battlefield. Anyway, they are Austrian and pursuit is something the other side do...

I'll work out the effect of all this and publish a new map either tonight or next weekend.

cheers

2011: That was the year that was

2012-01-08T12:12:00.002Z

Hi all,

Well, 2011 is behind us. For me this feels like a good thing as the year had a few highlights but descended into something I am glad to see the back of. Christmas proved a welcome upswing and with the turn of the year I am optimistic that 2012 is there to be enjoyed.

On the wargaming front things have been quiet, but I am gradually feeling more motivated and the first things to tackle this year are to finish the 1809 campaign which I started in the Autumn (possibly to be repeated as a play by email version later in the year), to re-visit the WW1/Back of Beyond but using 10mm as well as 28mm figures and to update the new companion blog to paintingshed in which I review the issues of Wargames Illustrated from 20 years ago to see what inspiration they can still offer.

As a promising first highlight of 2012, my napoleonic "squares" rules have been put in print in issue 58 of Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy and it is nice to see them looking all glossy with some of the great photos that Guy took during his visit to my garage.

I hope everyone out there had a great Christmas and New Year, look forward to catching up with as many of you as possible around the shows.

cheers
Steve

1809 Campaign: 19th April at 11pm

2011-11-23T13:16:00.001Z

Here is the situation at the close of play on the 19th April. Following the major battle at Abensberg, Napoleon has fallen back to the west to await the arrival of 2nd and 4th Corps. To the north, 7th Corps and substnatial parts of 3rd Corps are isolated from the rest of the army.

The Austrian army is re-gathering its strength at Abensberg. I and II Korps have finally reached Regensberg but are still some way away. The units who gained the famous victory over the Emperor are fatigued, but so are their opponents.

On the map, orange outlines indicate formations subject to attrition tests, while red outlines are for units who have double-attrition.

Both sides now have some difficult decisions to make...

Battle of Abensberg 19th April, 16:00

2011-11-23T13:11:00.001Z

I have finally got round to concluding the battle I began reporting on a while back. The map above shows the situation at 4pm. Napoleon with 8th Corps and Davout's 3rd Corps are withdrawing westwards towards reinforcements while the Bavarians of 7th Corps are crossing to the northern bank of the Danube accompanied by the 1st and 2nd Heavy Cavalry divisions and the light cavalry of 3rd Corps.

The Austrians have taken a beating during their advance but have secured the battlefield and inflicted an embarassing reverse on the Emperor, all of Europe will take note.

The next post will summarise the current campaign situation...

Battle of Abensberg 19th April, 14:00

2011-11-15T12:41:00.001Z

I have managed to get a few turns played, taking this battle up to 14:00 as shown in the map above. Action kicked-off at 6am with the Austrians making a determined effort with VI Korps in particular, supported to its right by V Korps. Initial attacks bore little fruit and resulted in significant casualties for VI Korps in particular. By noon it looked to be going awry for the Austrians.

Concluding that any withdrawal would be difficult in daylight and still hoping that Rosenberg's IV Korps may yet arrive, Charles opted for a final push. Siezing command of V Korps from his brother Louis (Ludwig) he drove forward into Abensberg itself, destroying the French defenders. The assault was supported to the left by VI Korps and the Heavy Cavalry of the reserve while the Grenadiers advanced through the wooded hills to the left. Casualties were high on both sides but as the dust began to settle it was clear that Davout's 3rd Corps had been firmly shoved backwards.

The central and eastern parts of the battlefield were less intense. The Austrian light cavalry is trying to make its presence felt on the left and III Korps is slowly advancing against the hard-pressed Bavarians.

The French would probably be wise to consider possible lines of retreat at the moment. Napoleon, Davout (3rd Corps) and Vandamme (8th Corps) can probably make an escape via Ingoldstadt but Lefebvre (7th Corps) along with the heavy cavalry and the 5th Division of 3rd Corps may find it easier to slip away over the Danube to Kelheim and then retreat westwards. Of course, the Emperor and the Iron Marshal may see things differently and they could try to hang on for Lannes, Oudinot and 2nd Corps...

Two Decades On

2011-11-13T00:56:00.003Z

While this blog has and will continue to show my ongoing wargaming activity, I also like to look back at how the hobby and my experience of it has developed.

To contribute to this I have started a second blog "Two Decades On" in which I'll post a monthly discussin/review of the issue of Wargames Illustrated dated 20 years ago. In the first entry I look at the November 1991 magazine. Please take a look and leave your comments.

cheers

Remember

2011-11-11T12:19:00.000Z

Abensberg, 19th April 1809. Deployment

2011-11-11T11:47:00.004Z

Here is the set-up for fighting the battle that has been generated by the campaign.
The second picture shows more clearly where each formation is deployed. The French (blue) are to the north and the Austrians (yellow) to the south.

On the eastern flank there is a balance between the light cavalry of each army, but the french heavies are lying in wait so the Austrians will probably not push their luck too far. Their lights are of good quality however and they may form a useful link should IV Korps arrive before the end of the battle.

In the Centre the french have 7th (Bavarian) Corps and 3rd Corps. These are deployed on the wooded hills and it is unlikely that Austrian III Korps will be able to drive them off. The most likely scenario is that each side will hold the other in the centre.

This makes the western flank the one more likely to generate a result. Over here the Austrians have V and VI Korps, totalling some 30,000 infantry with supporting cavalry and artillery. The French right consists of the 8th (Wurttemberg) Corps, a mere 10,000 strong. (In the photos I have Saxons standing-in as Wurttembergers). Each side will have to consider carefully how to proceed her. The situation is complicated by this flank including the french line of supply/communication and this also being the likely point of arrival for 2nd and 4th corps, should they arrive.

Lots to think about when drafting orders. I don't use written order when playing most games, but as this is part of a campaign and played solo, these might add an extra dimension.

More soon!

Abensberg: Order of Battle

2011-11-08T11:08:00.003Z

Here is a quick run down of the units I'll need to assemble for the Battle of Abensberg in my fictional 1809 campaign. This is just a rough run through and some of the details may change.

Austrians:

III Korps: Hohenzollern
Div Kayser: 2 x INF
Div Thierry: 2 x INF (roll for attrition)
Div St Julien: 3 x INF
Div Vuk'vich: 1 x INF, 1 x MIXED (roll for attrition)
Div Pfanzeleter: 1 x INF, 1 x LC
Artillery: 2 x Foot Artillery

IV Korps: Rosenberg
Div Hohenlohe: 2 x INF
Div Stutterheim: 1 x INF
Div Somariva: 1 x INF, 1 x MIXED
Div Radivojev: 1 x INF, 1 x LC
Div Vecsey: 1 x INF, 1 x LC

V Korps: Archduke Louis
Div Lindenau: 3 x INF
Div Reuss Plauen: 2 x INF
Div Sch'tkh: 1 x INF, 1 x MIXED
Div Radetxky: 1 x MIXED, 1 x LC
Artillery: 2 x Foot Artillery

VI Korps (minus detachments): Hiller
Div Kottulinsky: 2 x INF
Div Vincent: 3 x INF
Div Reinwald: detached
Div Nordmann: 1 x INF, 1 x MIXED
Artillery: 2 x Foot Artillery

Grenadier Reserve: Leichtenstein
4 x INF (Grenadiers)

Cavalry Reserve: Hessen-Homburg
Heavy Cavalry: 4 x HC
Light Cavalry: 3 x LC
Artillery: 1 x Cavalry Artillery

Totals (excluding IV Korps): 25 INF, 4 MIXED, 5 LC, 4HC, 6 Foot Art, 1 Cav Art

French

7th Corps: Lefebvre
Div Pr Royal: 2 x INF, 1 x LC, 1 x Foot Artillery
Div Wrede: 2 x INF, 1 x LC, 1 x Foot Artillery
Div Deroi: 2 x INF, 1 x LC, 1 x Foot Artillery (roll for attrition)

3rd Corps: Davout
Div Morand: 3 x INF
Div Friant: 3 x INF
Div Gudin: 4 x INF
Div Demont: 1 x INF
Light Cavalry: 3 x LC
Artillery: 1 x Foot Artillery, 1 x Horse Artillery

8th Corps: Vandamme
3 x INF, 2 x LC, 1 x Foot Artillery

Heavy Cavalry
Div Nansouty: 3 x HC
Div d'Espagne: 2 x HC

Totals: 20 x INF, 8 x LC, 5 x HC, 5 x Foot Artillery, 1 x Horse Artillery

The French are outnumbered on paper, particularly if the Austrian IV Korps should appear, but they will have a definite edge in their command quality. Both armies have a mix of average and veteran troops so the French will not have the advantage here that they may have experienced in 1805-1807.

1809 Campaign, Battle of Abensberg, 19th April

2011-11-08T10:36:00.003Z

The orders issued have resulted in a significant engagement, worthy of playing out on a table. The map below shows the general situation at around 6am. The initial Austrian attack has been by III Korps and this has pushed the bavarians back onto high ground.

The Austrian IV Korps may arrive later inthe day, but the Austrians are notoriously slow marchers! There is an outside chance of French 2nd corps arriving from the west but this is unlikely to occur until early evening at best.
The dotted white rectangle shows the battlefield area to be recreated on the 8x4 foot tabletop.

The campaign will now take a short recess while I clear up the garage to set-up this battle.

1809 Campaign, overnight 18th-19th April

2011-11-08T10:17:00.003Z

Issues ordered overnight 18th-19th April:

Austrian

III and V Korps to engage enemy to front. Attack to commence from 3am
VI Korps to support left flank of V Korps.

Army reserve will be reorganised. All grenadiers to be placed under direct command of Gen Leichtenstein. Reserve cavalry to be commanded by Gen. Hessen-Homburg. Grenadiers to support III Korps. Light cavalry of the reserve to cover right flank of III Korps. Heavy Cavalry to remain in reserve.

IV Korps to march with all speed from Eggmuhl to Langquaid and then join in the assault on the enemy.

I and II Korps to seize Regensburg. After securing and garrisoning the fortress, then march to Kelheim via Abbach. Be aware of expected major engagement at Abensburg.

....

French
3rd and 7th Corps to expect enemy to front. Orders are to hold and seek opportunity for counterattack. Light cavalry of 3rd Corps to provide screen to the east. 8th Corps to secure right flank at Neustadt. 1st and 2nd HC Divisions along with Demont's Division (III/5) to provide reserve support and act under orders of Marshal Davout.

III/4 Division (St.Hilaire). Leave rearguard at Regensburg and withdraw to Abbach. If pursued by enemy in force then act to delay them. be aware that the Emperor expects to engage the enemy main body at Abensburg.

Marshal Lannes: Ride via Reichertshofen to join 2nd Corps and assume command. Lead the corps to join the Emperor at Neustadt/Abensberg
Marshal Bessieres: Accomapny Marshal Lannes and join the Emperor

2nd Corps. Due to arrive at Pfaffenhofen. Upon arrival, immediately march for Neustadt via major roads. Force-march if necessary. Marshal Lannes will join you and assume command from Gen Oudinot.

4th Corps. Advance element expected to arrive at Pfaffenhofen. Orders are to hold and await remainder of Corps and 3rd Heavy Cavalry Division

....

1809 Campaign, 18th April

2011-11-07T13:56:00.004Z

The action continues.

After the early-morning activity the Austrian main body continues to press on the stoic line of Bavarians while IV Korps advances to the east. VI Korps threatens the Bavarian right flank but is itself somewhat diminished by the detachments left behind on its march.

The French 3rd corps under Davout has now deployed half of its strength in direct support of the Bavarians of 7th corps with its remaining infantry divisions and light cavalry just crossing the Danube.

2nd Heavy cavalry division is attached to the advance elements of 3rd corps.

Advancing from Ingolstat are 8th Corps (Wurttemburgers) with the 1st Heavy Cavalry Division in the lead. They are racing to join 3rd and 7th corps:

The main activity of the day was the fighting between the Austrian main body and the Bavarian Divisions of the 7th corps. The bulk of 7th corps was pushed back towards Abensburg, but 2nd Divison is still holding Rohr.

The French have now accumulated a sizeable force at Abensburg and if they wish, a significant battle could be fought tomorrow. Alternatively they could withdraw to the west to await the arrival of 2nd and 4th Corps.

Austrian options include a continued push north by the main body, or a westwards move by part of the army to threaten the French supply line. Reinforcements are due from the north, with two corps converging on Regensburg which is held my the few thousand men of St.Hilaire's Division.

Orders will be interesting and the role of the Austrian IV Korps could be key. Will they be ordered north to ensure Regensburg falls quickly or will they turn west to fall upon the left flank of the Abensburg position?

1809 Campaign, 17th April

2011-11-06T15:59:00.006Z

...and on to the second day. The maps below should explain events fairly clearly. The engagement between the Bavarian divisions and the advancing Austrians resulted in a rapid collapse of the Bavarian left which fell back on Rohr. As a consequence the other two Divisions were compelled to retreat also, despite putting up a stout defence. These two have now combined at Siegenburg. The first elements of Davout's III Corps are now forming up at Kelheim just a short way to the north, while 2nd, 4th and 8th Corps are due imminently.

Austrian orders remain as before, with the main body heading for Abensburg if it can push aside the Bavarians. French orders will be dependent on their view of the situation which is shown in the map below:

French: Orders for the 18th April:

7th Corps (Bavarian): Hold current positions if practical. Fall back on Abensburg if necessary.

3rd Corps : Divisons at Kelheim to advance to Abensburg and support Bavarians, Divisions due to arrive today will collect at Kelheim with the exception of 2nd HC division and LC2&3 who will march to join other forces at Abensburg. Light cavalry 1 to recce Langquaid.

8th Corps: Advance with all speed to Neustadt to cover right flank of Bavarians.

1st HC Division: March immediately to Abensburg by way of Neustadt to join 2nd HC and place yourself at the disposal of Marshal Davout. Marshal Bessieres is expected tomorrow and he will assume command of a newly-constituted HC reserve subsequent to this.

1809 campaign: 16th April

2011-11-06T14:49:00.004Z

I ran throught the first day of the campaign. The start positions are as shown on the map below

The following text shows the orders issued and events of the day. Comments on rule mechanisms are given in italics. Initial orders are:
Austrian
I and II Korps to converge on Regensburg and capture the fortress. (not expected to arrive until 19th)
IV Korps, cross the river at Dingolfing and march via Worth to join main road and head for Eggmuhl
V Korps to force river crossing at Landshut then march on Abensburg via Pfeffenhausen
III Korps to cross at Landshut then march on Abensburg via Rottenburg
VI Korps to cross at Freising and establish line along road to Abensburg to cover right flank of army.

IR and IIR Korps. Army reserve to follow main body of III and V Korps respectively (expected tomorrow).

Main body of army: III, IV and V Korps along with reserve are intended to form-up at Abensburg
Right wing of army: I and II Korps to capture Regensburg
Left wing of army: VI Korps to secure army flank and warn of enemy approach

French:

VII Corps. 1st and 2nd Divisions to defend crossings at Freising and Landshut. If forced to retreat then the corps is to gather on the position of 3rd Division and defend the line Mainburg-Pfeffenhausen-Rottenburg. Establish strength and position of enemy and report back to HQ via Ingoldstat

III Corps. 4th Division to garrison regensburg and hold until further orders. Remainder of Corps is to gather at Kelheim on the Danube.

2nd HC Division. To consider itself attached to III Corps until further ordered.

Other units are en-route

Events:
Austrian I and II Korps on the march towards Regensburg from the north. Regensburg being held by St.Hilaire's Division (III Corps, 4th Division)

Austrian V Korps engaged Bavarian 2nd Division at Landshut and successfully captured the fortress in an action taking 8 hours. The Bavarians fell back on Rottenburg. V Corps then followed orders and advanced on Pfeffenhausen where it encountered Bavarian 3rd Division.

Austrian III Korps (Accompanied by Archduke Charles) reached Landshut but was unable to move further today (rolled 4+ when entering the location). Expect IR and IIR Korps to arrive at Landshut tomorrow.

Austrian VI Korps sucessfully pushed the Bavarian 1st Division from Freising, taking just a few hours. The Bavarians fell back and put up a rearguard action at Au but were further pushed back to Mainburg. Evening prevented any further pursuit. The corps left a regiment to guard Freising.

The positions at 11pm are shown below. The Austrians are pushing northwards on a broad front, while Lefebvre's VII Corps has estsablished a new defensive position but is somewhat overstretched.

To determine the delays caused by the Bavarians I assumed that the Autrians would win as they had overwhelming numbers and this was just a case of how long the skirmishes would take. I rolled a d6. This determined how many hour elapsed, with a re-roll for results of 5 or 6 which was added to the first roll. Freising fell quickly on a "2", but Landshut took longer on a "5" and a subsequent "3".

Overnight orders:

Austrian

I and II Korps. Unchanged: aiming for Regensburg

III Korps. To attack Bavarinas at Rottenburg and march on Abensburg
IV Korps. Unchanged. aiming for Eggmuhl
V Korps. Attack Bavarians at Pfeffenhausen and march on Abensburg
VI Korps. Unchanged. Secure left flank

IR and IIR. Unchanged. to follow III and V Korps towards Abensburg.

French

III Corps: Unchanged. Collect at Kelheim

VII Corps: delay Austrian advance and if forced back then establish defence at Sigenburg-Abensburg. Attempt to hold Mainburg if possible. Expect reinforcement/support from III Corps

Other corps en-route

Everyone seems to be "in supply" at present apart from IV Korps whose countryside ramble means they will acquire an attrition marker which will need to ne rallied-off at some future point.

Stand by for the 17th!

Campaign rules, 1809 etc

2011-11-06T11:24:00.002Z

Here are some rough rules for using my 1809 campaign map. Feel free to use/adapt/ignore! They are deliberately brief as the purpose of the campaign is to generate tabletop battles.

Campaign Rules

1. Movement

Movement Allowance:
Independent officers are allowed 4MP each turn
Commands consisting of all cavalry are allowed 3MP each turn.
Other commands are allowed 2 MP each turn.
Each turn represents one day.

Movement Costs:
Major road = 1MP
Minor road = 2MP
(all movement must be along roads)

Upon entering a location, (unless all MPs are already exhausted anyway) roll 1d6 to determine if the command halts:
French Cavalry 6+
French 5+
Austrian Cavalry 5+
Austrians 4+
(add one to the roll if the weather is rain/mud/snow/etc)

Forced Marches:
A command may move 1MP further than it usually would by declaring a “forced march”. A command that force marches acquires an attrition marker.

A unit that currently has 1 or more attrition markers may not use forced march.
Independent officers may not use forced march

2. Supply
Supply lines must be drawn from the command to a friendly supply source, using major roads only.
A command that can draw such a line is considered “in supply” and suffers no adverse effects
A command which cannot draw such a line is “out of supply” and acquires an attrition marker.
Independent officers are not affected by supply or attrition

3. Rally
Commands may attempt to rally instead of moving. If the command is in supply it may remove an attrition marker if it rolls 4+ on 1d6.

4. Attrition Markers
Attrition markers are acquired when a command is out of supply, force marches or when a command has engaged in combat.
The effect of attrition markers is determined at the start of a battle, before deployment. For each unit in the command roll 1d6 for each attrition marker currently affecting the command. Each roll of 4+ inflicts a hit marker on the unit before the battle begins.

5. Battle & Marching to the Sound of the Guns

Once two opposing forces attempt to enter the same location a battle may occur. Depending on the sizr of the forces this may be resolved by a dice roll, a tabletop wargame or some other mechanism. If a battle is fought, then forces currently occupying adjacent locations may attempt to reach the battlefield - this will depend upon the nature of the roads, how far units have already marched and whether units have attriton markers.

Campaign map, 1809

2011-11-06T11:11:00.002Z

Apologies for my recent absence from the blogosphere.

I have a few things behind me now and can concentrate on some more personal wargames activities. First up is a slow-burning campaign based on the fighting in Bavaria in April 1809. For this I need a decent map and a bit of playing around with Photoshop Elements and MS-Word gave me the following:
The basic map was produced in PE which I then pasted into a drawing fram in Word. I then added the point-to-point roadmap using Word drawing tools (circle shape and curved connectors). This does not attempt to represent every town, village and road but gives an approximation of where the main routes of march were.

My plan is to kick off from the situation of around April 16th but to allow the Austrians to vary their direction of attack (they can enter from any/all of the orange nodes) and allow the French to deploy as they see fit.

Most of the French & allied Army of Germany begins off map. Davout's corps is north of the Danube and can elect to concentrate at any of the towns between Ingoldstat and Regensburg (inclusive). Lefebvre's 7th Corps [Bavarian] begins on the map and can spread its three divisions as it wants. The remaining components of the AoG arrive from the west via Ingoldstat and Pfaffenhofen according to a schedule based upon their actual arrival times.

At the moment I am just planning this as a solo scenario to generate (a) some battles and (b) some enthusiasm. At the same time as working through it I might even finish painting my Bavarians as I currently only have one Division finished. I also need to get the Wurttemurgers done. The only disappointment is that the Saxon's aren't around at this stage - however if the Austrians do well then there is the possibility of extending the campaign and drawing-in the more widely scattered forces.

I thought the map might be of use to others so feel free to use it if you like. I'll post some guidelines for map movement later on.

cheers

Dux Bellorum

2011-09-24T17:45:00.005+01:00

I have kindly been allowed to see a draft of Dan Mersey's upcoming dark age rules that Osprey will be publishing. I am very impressed with what I have read and am looking forward to trying them out as soon as I have a couple of other projects put to bed.

Overall impression is a game in the same spirit as Impetus, but with a nicely thought out set of mechanisms to reflect the difficulties and character of warfare in post-roman Britain. As I had planned to re-work my armies for Impetus anyway, this should dovetail nicely and still allow those diorama bases. Measurements are in base widths which helps! I think I'll go for the Impetus standard of 120mm bases as these allow about 12 infantry or 4-5 cavalry.

cheers

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

2011-09-24T17:42:00.002+01:00

Went to see this film on Thursday and can't recommend it highly enough. It might not appeal to action junkies but it gets 5 stars from me. The acting is superb and the whole film immerses you in the early 1970s. Really, really, really good.

Unit stats

2011-09-19T19:13:00.002+01:00

Hi all, in answer to a query here is an idea for some of the stats I have been allocating to units in my napoleonic "squares" rules. Units are rated for skirmishing/fighting/morale

French infantry, typically these have:
1. reasonably good skirmishers (d10),
2. average to good fighting ability so an average quality small unit might get d6, an average quality, average sized unit would get d8 and an average quality large unit would get d10. If the unit was higher quality then I might up these by one dice type, but try to avoid d12 and instead split the unit into two smaller ones.
3. average to good morale: d8 or d10.

So, units of St Hilaire's experienced Division at Aspern-Essling tend to get d10, d10, d10 but much more "average" units in Tharreau's Division are more like d10, d8, d8

Conversely, Austrians are usually worse at skirmishing so an "average" unit of infantry would get d8, d8, d8. If a unit has Grenzers or Jagers attached then the skirmishing increases to d10.

I try to keep most units to d8s and d10s.
d6 skirmishing applies to infantry who did not routinely send out many skirmishers, even if they could do so in theory (Austrian grenadiers, 1806 prussians perhaps, 1809 saxons)
d12 skirmishing I'm not sure about but perhaps British brigades which include a substantial numer of riflemen

d6 combat for very raw or small units
d12 combat for very experienced AND large units

d6 morale for very poor units (Spanish, 1809 saxons, neapolitans?)
d12 morale for guard or very experienced units (Old guard, British guards, British penninsular veterans)

All this is of course very, very subjective. With four dice types and three categories there is plenty of wiggle room!

Cavalry are similar but have no skirmish die

Artillery only have a morale.

Slight error

2011-09-11T21:50:00.002+01:00

Poo! I have realised that the battalion I finished off as the 52nd Foot should have been in stovepipe shakos, so this unit will need to have its facings re-painted and a "new" 52nd painted up.
Not a big problem but I'm gald I spotted it before basing the units up!

Painting again

2011-09-11T12:18:00.002+01:00

Hurrah! Finally put brush to miniature again and finished off a British battalion (1/52nd foot) to make a start on Adam's brigade for Waterloo. Plan to finish the British inf then cavalry while waiting for Baccus to bring out the minor nations. In the meantime I can also look at French lancers and finishing off the 1809 Bavarians and Italians.

Next up, 71st Foot and more 95th rifles.

Progress will be limited as I still have a couple of writing projects to finish and lord knows what work might chuch at me. Still, I do have four years left to get Waterloo finished...

Marengoish

2011-09-07T21:52:00.002+01:00

Well, the battlefiled was roughly Marengo
The Austrians had more-or-less I and IV Korps from Aspern-Essling plust two brigades of grenadiers in an ad-hoc reserve.
The French had various Divisions from II and IV Corps from Aspern Essling and a reserve of one Young Guard brigade and the Guard light cavalry.

There was some artillery too, a little more for the Austrians.

We played 7 turns with honours about even. Everyone seemed to pick-up the gist of the rules - just need to clarify how to attack over a bridge!

A good night at the club!

cheers

rules update

2011-09-07T17:53:00.002+01:00

I have added some ideas about rallying units that I tried out in the game on Sunday. I have also added the date of the last update to the rules tab on the blog so I won't be making specific blog entries to announce every update!

If anyone out there does try the rules then let me know how you get on.

Tonight at the club I'm going to try a little battle based on Marengo but with some of the Aspern Essling OOB. Should work OK :-)

...and crikey, I have just checked the Picasa album linked to the blog and there are nearly 900 pictures in it!

cheers

2011-09-06T22:15:00.001+01:00

One last photo of the Aspern-Essling game, courtesy of Tricks:

Here we see the French defenders of Essling:

Other games at Partizan

2011-09-06T17:54:00.033+01:00

Lots of good games at the show. Here are a few:

cheers

Aspern-Essling postscript

2011-09-05T21:06:00.003+01:00

So, did Napoleon escape?

After the show I reflected on how to actually decide the fate of the defeated French. This would depend on whether the bridges over the Danube had been rebuilt. I decided to take the hour of the defeat and try to roll this or below on 2d10 to allow the French engineers to have pulled things out of the bag.

The game effectively ended with the 11am turn, so Napoleon needed 11 or less to escape.

I rolled the dice tonight, scoring a total of 19! It looks as if Napoleon was captured by the Austrians, although knowing the Austrians they probably lost him or let him go...

This victory determination seems a useful way to make the scenario replayable. If the French can hold out until 8pm then they can guaruntee an escape.

A few mods made to the rules.

cheers

Aspern-Essling at Partizan

2011-09-04T20:21:00.011+01:00

Phew, what a hard day on the feet! I think the game went well and surprisingly I played it right to a rough conclusion (both days!).

Below is a shot of a unit, showing the one of the labels I printed off yesterday. Each brigade is identified by the corps and division to which it belongs. On the right is a reminder of the dice rolled for skirmishing, combat and morale. My dice are colour-coded (yellow d6, purple d8, blue d10 and black d12). The Austrian grenadiers below are not the best skirmishers but fight well and have excellent morale. These labels really did help today's game shift along. Next we have a shot taken a couple of turns in. Austrain VI and I Korps are heading for Aspern, II Korps is covering the centre while IV Korps is on a long looping march towards Essling. The reserve is taking up a support position. The french have infantry in Aspern and Essling, with cavalry covering the gap between the villages.

Time moves on and the troops engage around Aspern. IV Korps is tardy on its march and takes until nightfall to reach Essling:

A close up of the action around Aspern on day 1. The chirch changed hands a couple of times:

In the centre, the defence was very sparse but St Cyr's division of Massena'a IV Corps arrived to help out:

At the end of day 1 the Austrians had positioned themselves for a major assault but had yet to cause many casualties:

Overnight the French were reinforced by II Corps and the Imperial Guard. Part of their revised disposition in shown below:

The Guard threw themselves into the gap between Essling and the river, but took heavy losses when they engaged the Austrians. The white-coats forced their way into the village and could not be repelled.

The French admitted defeat as lunchtime drew close on day 2. The Austrian I Corps was forcing itself forward from Aspern and IV Korps had forced the Guard to recule. Ultimately there were just too many Austrians and too few French. Without sophisticated tactics the Austrians achieved victory, more or less by falling on top of the French!

Great game and the rules played really well. A few tweaks to make but nothign too drastic. I'll do these tomorrow.

I'll also put up some pics of other games at the show.

cheers

All ready to go!

2011-09-03T21:07:00.003+01:00

OK, then. I'm just about ready for the morning. The troops have been reorganised into an OOB resembling that of Aspern-Essling (somewhat different to the OOB for Wagram) and each base has had a little label printed off, laminated and attached which details which corps and division in belongs to and what dice it rolls for skirmishing, fighting and morale. Hopefully the time spent today will make tomorrow go all the more smoothly. I have also printed out a copy of the current draft of the rules and will no doubt make adjustments during the game tomorrow... I have already made a few tweaks on the rules page attached to the blog. This is very much a dynamic set of rules!

Right ho, just some last minute bits to organise and then try to get some sleep before a 6am start to get to Kelham and set up the tables before I get to set up my game.

If you are travelling down, have a safe journey.

Demo Poster

2011-09-03T16:50:00.002+01:00

While I am waiting for my new unit-labels to run off the printer ready for laminating, I thought I'd put up an image of the poster I have put together for my demo game tomorrow. Not entirely necessary but posters in display holders always make a game look a little more "finished".

cheers

Demo Decision Reached

2011-09-02T19:24:00.003+01:00

Aspern-Essling it will be!

Now, do I just do day 2, or should I take advantage of the 6 x 6 table and cover the approach marches of the Austrian columns on day 1 too? Do you know, I think I might just do that...

It'll be interesting to see if the rules allow the 24,000 or so French defenders on day 1 can hold off the 100,000 Austrians.

This means I need to get some new commander markers printed off and laminated - the Wagram ones will not do as some of the commanders differed between the two battles. I shall try hard to stay one step ahead of the Emperor and keep Lannes alive this time (and Lasalle, and St Hilaire, and St Sulpice...)

See you on Sunday

Useful info about Partizan

2011-08-28T10:56:00.003+01:00

Just for your information, the Partizan website has been updated

Partizan website

Traders at The Other Partizan MMXI

Games at The Other Partizan MMXI

Hope to see you there

Hills & things

2011-08-28T10:36:00.002+01:00

I have added a few more modifications to the rules, these being re-rolls for heavy cavalry who miss when attacking and save rolls for units in towns. I have also clarified that cavalry cannot attack or occupy towns.

So far, so common-sense.

My dilemma at the moment is how best to represent hills. Hills feature heavily in tactics of the 19th Century but often do not seem to have the same importance to our miniature battles or we find the converse situation and they become disproportionatley powerful defensive bastions.

Essentially then, what does being on a hill do for you? I have come up with the following as a starter list to consider

Lets you see further

Gives artillery a longer range/ability to shoot over targets

Makes you harder for the enemy to "get at"

Slows attackers down and/or disrupts their formations

Morale effects? Does it improve yours or weaken your opponents?

Assuming these are true, and not forgetting that the list may grow; how does these factors get represented in rules without under- or over-doing things AND without needing to change too much of the existing rules to accomodate them?

The following are ideas based on my own rules, but have not been playtested so are very speculative:

Improve the "ability" of generals who are on hills with LOS to the enemy

Let artillery treat long range fire as close range

Require attackers to use 3 action points (rather than 2) to attack enemy on a hill [might slow the game but does reflect the topological and morale issues]

Increase the damage done by attackers to defenders as they have more opportunity to shoot at them etc (maybe a reroll for either skirmishing roll-off or for combat)

Troops on hill ignore fallback results?

Hmm, more thinking to do and then I need to move on to woods!

Current opinion is favouring Aspern Essling, although as I have a 9km square battlefield I am also considering looking at Teugn Hausen on an operational level. I have sketched out a map that would allow me to include Abbach to the north and stretch down to Grub, while having Teugn in the West and Dunzling in the east. This would allow a game that shows the manoeuvring of Davout's Divisions and the Austrian III, IV ans IR Korps. I'm tempted by this as there is more scope for movement around all the hills, woods and villages whereas Aspern is much more of a meat-grinder.

Partizan next Sunday

2011-08-27T09:44:00.003+01:00

Just a reminder to the blogosphere that it is the Partizan wargaming show next Sunday (4th September 2011) at Kelham Hall near Newark, Nottinghamshire.

I'll be putting on a demonstration game using my 6mm figures and the new napoleonic rules I have been working on so if you come to the show please say hello. I should be easy to find as I doubt there will be too many 6mm napoleonic games on a 6x6 table.

Now I have to think of a scenario! Thoughts currently are:

Eggmuhl (or something like it)

Aspern-Essling (day 2 probably)

Znaim

or I could do something entirely hypothetical. With only a week to go at least I can't over-think it too much.

See you there!

New Napoleonic Rules (4)

2011-08-25T21:05:00.003+01:00

Tried out the rules at the club last night with some success. Still need to work out a few things but I have put a draft version on their own page on this blog for those who are interested to have a peruse of. Feel free to use/amend/adapt for your own use.

Cheers

Adventures in Bavaria and Austria

2011-08-20T18:37:00.012+01:00

As promised, some photos of recent playtesting.

First are a couple of pictures of Aspern-Essling from about mid way through the battle. The austrian grenadiers and StHilaire's Division of Lannes's corps are hotly engaged north of Essling. Austrian 1st and 2nd columns have yet to make a significant impact on Massenna's defence of Aspern.

Following on, here is my take on Teugn-Hausen, with the action around Dunzling included to give the battle a more "epic feel".

At setup, two divisions of Davout's corps of frenchmen (St Hilaire's and Fraint's) are strung out on the march and find their flanks threatened by Austrian III and IV Korps. Austrian grenadiers are about to arrive at Grub under the command of the Archduke Charles.

1. Overview:

2. Austrians from III Korps have taken the high ground near Teugn while the rest of the Korps assembles in Hausen:

3. Austrian IV Korps form up around Dunzling to meanace Friant's Division:

4. The exposed nature of the french is shown in this head on view of their column stretching back nearly 10km

5, 6. The Austrians start well, moving against Teugn and pushing Friant's rearguard near Dunzling:

7. St Hilaire is reinforced by part of Friant's Division and counterattacks. A significant combat sees two brigades each from III Korps and Friant shattered. Along with further losses inflicted by St Hilaire the III Korps is broken and begins to withdraw.

8. Charles finally brings up the grenadier reserve but too little too late. The French have engineered an escape.

cheers!

New Napoleonic Rules (3)

2011-08-19T09:46:00.002+01:00

Still tweaking the combat system. Some good ideas have come from the boardgame "Bonaparte at Marengo" and the follow-up one about Austerlitz. There is need for a careful balance between #dice thrown, chance of a "hit" and effect of "hits".

Aspern-Essling played well and I follwed up with a smaller battle (Teugn-Hausen) after revising the combat mechanism.

Hope to put up some photos today or tomorrow.

New Napoleonic Rules (2)

2011-08-15T13:53:00.003+01:00

So, I have played three turns (3 hours) of day 2 of Aspern Essling using the rules I outlined yeasterday.

A few things have cropped up and been added to the stuff in my head:

a. maximum capacity of wooded squares is 2 brigades & 2 batteries
b. heavy cavalry get +1d per base when they assault
c. heavy cavalry can absorb one more hit than light cavalry
d. combats involving combinations of cav and inf need to be split down to match off equal numbers of cav and inf, with "spare" cavalry then affecting the infantry combats (sort of, easier in practice than to write down)
e. cannister is represented by a d10 for gorse artillery and a d12 for foot artillery, looking for 6+ in each case
f. following moralre rolls after combat if 50%+ of one side's brigades withdraw then all do.
g. rally may be attempted unless there ar UNENGAGED enemy in an adjacent square.
h. assulting infantry who lose a skirmish roll-off and would normally be repulsed can choose to "push the assault" and fight the engagement with -1d per brigade

All-in-all I am really pleased with the way the rules play. The need to mark hits requires a lot of counters, creating a sea of red which detracts from the look of the battlefield. Alternatives such as cotton wool would not work as well though as the counters can be slotted between the ranks of the troops on each base. Perhaps clear counters would be a solution?

I do want to keep the "hits" concept as napoleonic warfare was attritional, so a simple destroy/push-back like in DBA wouldn't give me the effect I want.

As with my previous rules I like the reward for keeping a fresh reserve to push into an engagement when each side is being worn-down. The new version will also make the combined divisions of the allied army at Waterloo work better than the old rules as lowe quality Dutch militia will gain a benefit from standing in the same square as veteran British infantry.

Off to fight a few more hours of the battle now!

Wash and Brush-up

2011-08-15T13:51:00.002+01:00

I between playing out Aspern-Essling in the garage I have taken the opportunity to refresh the look of the blog by changing the template and adding a "cloud" of post labels which I hope will make it easier for folks to search through the five years or so of rambles I have posted.

Cheers

New Direction for Napoleonic Rules

2011-08-14T15:42:00.000+01:00

Sorry it has been a few weeks since the last update. What with one thing and another time has been filled all too easily. I have just had a week at the seaside and have returned refreshed. I am currently hiding in the bedroom as my daughters are having a sleepover with their friends and house is overrun with children.

The manuscript I have been working on for the last 18 months or so has been completed to 1st proper draft status minus a few last bits to complete and my brain can slowly turn towards some more personal projects. To quote the Fast Show; this weekend I have been mostly thinking about revisiting my 6mm napoleonics and the rules I use with them and I'll outline the ideas I am using below:

I wanted to keep the 1 base= a regiment or small brigade concept as this produces gmaes of around the right size for me and avoids the need to micromanage formations. While I'm not unhappy with my current rules I wanted to try out some different concepts to produce even quicker gaming but not end up with something so abstract that it doesn't feel "napoleonic".

Today was the first chance to put some of this into practice and I set up a 6 x 4 foot board with terrain and troops approximating the 1st day of Eckmuhl (1809). The rules are really only in my head at present as this makes editing easier, but roughly things go like this:

1. Roll 1d3 for every subordinate commander on the table. In this case the French had 4 divisional commanders and the Austrians 3, so seven d3 were rolled at the start of each turn and placed in a line, highest to lowest (two 3s, three 2s and two 1s).

2. Each side then selected one commander to roll off against the opposition to decide who got to use the highest d3. Each commander rolls one die, ranging from a d6 for poor commander to d12 for geniuses. The French were all rated "d10" initiative and the poor Autrians just "d6". Davout and Rosenburg and the CinCs for the day rated d12 and d8 respectively. The first roll-off saw Friant best the Austrians and get use of the first "3" allowing the brigades and batteries of his Division 3 actions. The next roll-off again saw the French win (St Hilaire this time) and grab the second "3". This gives a simple sequence of play with the better commanders tneding to have access to more actions for their troops and getting to move first. [similar to Impetus]

3. Once a commander has grabbed an action die (one of the d3s rolled at the start of the turn) he immediately acts with his brigades and batteries.

MOVEMENT

4. The battlefield is divided into squares to simplify measurement. Each 2 foot x 2 foot terrin time is divided (mentally at present) into a 3x3 grid, so the entire 6 foot x 4 foot table gives 54 squares. A square can contain up to 6 units, (no more than 4 being either brigades OR batteries).

5. Infantry can move as many squares as they have actions, with their first diagonal move costing 1 but any subsequent diagonals costing 2 [as in PBI from Peter Pig]. Moving into a wooded square costs +1 as does moving into an enemy-occupied square "assaulting"

6. Cavalry move in the same way as infantry but may move as if they had one extra "action".

BOMBARDMENT

7. Foot artillery may either bombard or move, but not both in the same turn. If bombarding, they may bombard as many times as they have actions.

8. Horse artillery may combine movement and bombardment actions during their turn.

9. If artillery who bombard share a square with brigades from their own Division then the brigades miss an action for each action of bombardment undertaken by the artillery.

10. Artillery may bomabard a target at a range of 1 or 2 squares, needing 5+ or 6+ respectively to score a hit. Foot artillery roll a d8 for each bombardment action and horse artillery a d6.

ASSAULTS

11. One or more brigades moving into a square occupied by the enemy is an assault.

12. Defending infantry may try to repel the assault using skirmishers. Each assualting infantry brigade rolls one die (the type depending on thier skirmish ability) as does each defending infantry brigade. If the highest defending die is higher than the highest assulting die then the assaulters lose the skirmish and fall back to the square the assaulted from. Otherwise the assault proceeds to an engagement.

13. Cavalry in a square reduce the skirmish ability of any opposing infantry to a d6. If both defenders and assaulters have cavalry then there is no skirmish roll-off.

ENGAGEMENT

14. Combat between opposing units in the same square is called an engagement. This may be brought about by an assault, or be a continuation of an on-going engagement.

15. Each brigade in the square rolls 3 dice of a type defined by their quality (d6 - d12) [a bit like "Force-on-Force]. Rolls of 6+ inflict a hits on opposing units in the same square. Each side takes the hits inflicted on them and shares them between its units.

a. Infantry assaulting an enemy in cover such as woods, fight with only 2 dice per brigade. If the combat continues to a subsequent enagement then they return to 3 dice.

b. Infantry engaged with infantry defending a village or town fight with only 2 dice in each engagement

c. Infantry engaged in a square containing enemy cavalry will fight with only 1 die per brigade

d. Cavalry who are engaged in a square containing only enemy infantry will fight with only 1 die per brigade

16. Artillery in the square may choose to be engaged, in which case they roll a d10 each, again needing 6+ for a hit. If they do this, then they must also be included when sharing out hits, otherwise they can be exempted. Foot artillery who assaulted may not be included in the resutling initial engagement, but may be included in any subsequent engagements

17. The side suffering the most hits then checks morale. Each brigade rolls one die of the type defined by its quality. If the roll is equal to or less than the number of hits currently suffered by the brigade then it withdraws to an adjacent square not occupied by the enemy. I haven't quite decided how to factor artillery into this, but generally assume they follow the rest of the division, or are wiped out.

ELIMINATING UNITS

18. Infatry suffering a 5th hit are destroyed. Likewise Cavalry suffering a 4th hit or artillery a 3rd.

19. Units compelled to withdraw but unable to do so because of enemy units or terrain are also eliminated.

MIXED BRIGADES

20. Some brigades contain both infantry and cavalry. They fight with only 2 dice in combat but may use skirmishers when facing enemy infantry. Mixed brigades a re destroyed by a 4th hit (as per cavalry)

PURSUIT

21 If all surviving enemy units in a square withdraw as a result of combat into an unoccupied square, then any friendly cavalry of mixed brigades in the square may pursue them. Friendly horse artillery may accompany the pursuers

22 Pursuing units fight the subsequent engagement with their full allowance of dice (3 dice for cavalry or 2 dice for mixed; 1 d10 for horse artillery)

23. Defending infantry brigades use 1 die each, mixed brigades 2 dice and cavalry 3 dice. Horse artillery may be included in the defence but not foot artillery.

RALLY

24. Rallying costs 2 actions. Each brigade or battery rolls 1die with rolls fo 6+ removing a hit. Only one hit may be removed from a unit per turn and a unit may never remove the last hit is posesses. If the divisional/corps commander is in the square then roll 1 die of a type defined by his quality (again needing 6s to remove hits). Commanders do not allow more than one hit to be removed per turn but do increase the chance of success. Commanders only roll 1 die to assist rallying regardless of how many units are in the square.

25. Rallying can only be attempted if there are no enemy units in the square or any adjacent squares.

...that's about all I have so far, but it seems to work pretty well. Many tests and tweaks are still needed but the process is fast and is getting there with the whole combined arms rock/stone/scissors feel of napoleonics.

Rough unit stats I have been using:

Veteran French Infantry: combat 3d10, skirmish 1d10, morale 1d10
Regular French Infantry: combat 3d8, skirmish 1d10, morale 1d8
Regular Austrian Infantry: combat 3d8; skirmish 1d8, morale 1d8
Grenzer Brigade: combat 3d8, skirmish 1d10, morale 1d8

Veteran Light Cavalry: combat 3d10; skirmish - , morale 1d10 (Austrians, Pire's brigade)
Regular Light Cavalry: combat 3d8, skirmish - , morale 1d8 (Bavarians)

Austrian Mixed Brigades: combat 2d8; skirmish 1d10. morale 1d10

Austrian divisional commanders: d6
Austrian corps commander (Rosenberg): d8

French divisional commanders (Friant, St Hilaire, Pire): d10
French corps commander (Davout): d12

This does reflect Davout's III Corps of 1809 being one of the finest formations of the napoleonic wars both in terms of troop quality and command.

I think the logical next step is to try out Aspern-Essling and add in rules for heavy cavalry - perhaps +1 die in combat when they assault?

cheers

Airport, Choppers & Vehicles

2011-07-17T13:46:00.000+01:00

Hi all. Two post in one day, how does he do it I hear you ask...

So, here we have the latest additons to the growing 3rd world republic that is my garage. Must think of a witty pun-tastic name for it...

First is the airport. I haven't tried to go for the full runway, etc, but have concentrated on having anough stuff to make for interesting scenarios. We have a car-park, terminal building, control tower, some hard-standing for the local airline's (Plummit Airways) DC-3 and some huts to act as crew messes or whatever.

Most of the buildings are scratch-built from 5mm foamcore, the roof vents are from drinks bottles, the fencing is car repair mesh and the huts are from the Timecast 15mm Vietnam range. The airport buildings have windows made from a flyswatter, allowing for some "interesting" architecture.

I do need to add some signage, posters, etc and I would like to have a red & white stipey pole at the entrance to let cars in and out. For now this will serve as a base of my UN forces.

Next we have the chopper squad. Firepower is provided by a HueyCobra. This is a Battlefront resin model.

some extra shootin' and some load carrying capability comes from Huey "slicks", again resin jobs from Battlefront. Chopper 1 has unfortunatley crashed in order to provide an objective (this is a "crashed" model, not a regular one that I have trodden on).

To liven up the crash site I added a motorbike adapted from a WW2 Peter Pig german one, minus the sidecar:

Fortunately Huey #2 is still airborne for now:

To finish, here are a selection of Peter Pig vehicles.

Two mercedes, one painted in sober black (ambassador, criminal, etc) and the other as a middle-eastern taxi (exotic place this african republic):

Then some Toyata "technicals", two with .50 cal MGs and one with a recoilles rifle and a devil-may-care attitude. The chap with his arms in the air is from the Religious Leader pack:

For when the ambassador wants to show off to his lady friends, he keeps his "classic" car:

Meanwhile the UN have decided that armoured cars are sometimes not enough and have brought in an M48 tank:

Lastly two unimog trucks to haul some beverages...

Very lastly, here are the buildings I received in the Kerr & King boxed set. These are lovely and include the walled garden areas. Only think that needs some work are the roofs, which are somewhat too snug a fit. But 30 seconds witha file sorts this out. The pack also comes with some optional domed roof pieces and the second-stored on the big house is removable eith the option of a single-storey and a larger roof piece.

cheers!

War & Conquest

2011-07-17T10:35:00.000+01:00

Hi all

Still writing my manuscript - over 60,000 words now and an end in sight. This means I'll soon be able to get back to more painting and gaming than in the last 18 months. No big writing projects after this (for now) but I pen a magazine article or two.

Yesterday I was around at Broom towers and Rob gave me a run down of some of the ideas that are going into his new ancients rules "War & Conquest". What started out way back as a tweak to Warhammer Ancient Battles has morphed into something that has a similar "look" in terms of units and table size but will, I think, give a very different game "feel" and it all sounds rather promising. I'll not give away any of Rob's ideas but overall I think the package will work very well for the aspects of Ancients gaming that I concentrate in with 28mm figures - ancient Greece and the Arthurian "Dark Ages". Look out for these rules sometime in the Autumn!

Right ho, I'm off to the garage to photograph some stuff!

Steve

...brief interval

2011-07-04T20:41:00.000+01:00

Hi all

Quiet round here innit?

Not to panic though. One writing project is about done and the other (bigger) one is about to swing into its "big push" BUT I have still found time to expand my African town for Force on force and will pop some piccies up very soon. Lates addition is a little airport....

Oh, and happy Independence Day to those over the pond.

cheers
Steve

Force on Force, African style.

2011-06-08T20:51:00.001+01:00

Some work-in-progress shots of my evolving set-up for gaming small actions in a hypothetical African state using Force-on-Force rules. This has entailed refreshing and rebasing my old 15mm stuff which I used to use for the AK47 rules from Peter Pig.

Below is a photo of the buildings I have so far, with a few troops and vehicles. In the foreground are two sections of UN peacekeepers with two M113 ACV vehicles, a supporting Panhard armoured car can be seen in the distance. A closer view...

..and a different angle...

The opposition can be seen below. Two hastily repainted T55 tanks in support of a three squad platoon and a recoilless rifle team.

Below is a close-up of the tanks. These are in an african-style camouflage but aren't intended to match anything too closely:

...and another shot of the advancing peacekeepers:

Here are more detailed photos of the buildings:

First is a small compound of three buildings constructed from 5mm foamcore on an MDF base:

The same method produced this larger building suitable for use as an embassy or suchlike:

The next building is a factory (same materials as above). Most of the buildings I have made have lift-off roofs:

The ventilation thingies on the roof of the factory and embassy are the tops from small water bottles. The posters are images taken from the web, printed on ordinary paper and glued to the buildings with thinned down PVA. The PVA is also painted on top of the posters to protect them.

The rest of my buildings are excellent resin pieces from Fieldworks which I can heartily recommend.

The baseboard is a piece of chipboard to which I have glued random pieces of textured wallpaper, plain paper and bits of mesh. These were originally made for a Warhammer 40K game many years ago, but with a bit of repainting they seem to do the job!

cheers

Back from the seaside

2011-06-05T09:16:00.000+01:00

Hi all

I'm back from the seaside and have been in the garage making a start on some 1:100 buildings for a Force-on-force african wars project.

More soon.

Partizan MMXI

2011-05-29T17:35:00.000+01:00

Just some quick photos of my AWI game and James's Abbyssinian spectacular.

Only shots of the set-up, too busy to take more photos later on!

cheers!

Pimp my Hovel

2011-05-21T17:20:00.000+01:00

As the weather has been good I have taken the opportunity to enhance my collection of AWI buildings to produce a rather grand looking house suitable for a small town or a plantation in the souther colonies. Below is the finished frontage and the second photo shows they type of hovels building that forms the core of the structure.

I have actually had this house for a very long time but haven't often used it on the table as it is quite a dull design and I was keen to add some bits and bobs to the basic house. As with most Hovels buildings the size is a good one for wargamers, having the right kind of "look" but without being too large. My house suffered from a noticable bowed front wall and many of the corners could not be described as square. This adds to the challenge of adding new parts as they have to fit around these problems!

The next photo shows how I have added a verandah and balcony to the front and a kitchen/extension to the rear, along with some groundwork to make the building look more "lived-in". The barrels are mainly from Hovels, along with one from Renedra.

At the rear of the house is a piece of fencing, originally from the Hovels livery stable set but chopped down a bit. This is really useful fencing for this kind of project. A half-barrel has been added from the Renedra sprue. The groundwork includes static grass, clump foliage and some Woodland Scenics purple stuff. The path is made from rectangles of thin currugated card.

The rear extension was made from 5mm foamcore and the windows are cut from a fly-swatter. The roof of the extension is made of thin card and the exposed brickwork is simply made by peeling off the top layer from the foarcore and scoring with a biro.

At the front I started with the floor of the veranda, which is a piece of foamcore to which I glued strips of thin card as planking. A similar construction produced the balcony and both were hot-glued to the building. The pillars are cut from foamcore and extra facing was provided by chopping up wooden coffee-stirrers. The balustrade on the balcony has been made from coffee stirrers, plastic rod and matchsticks. At some point this might get replaced by commercial balustrade, but it will do for now. The roof was added after much of the painting was complete and consists of some triangles of foamcore as supports, topped with a roof of thin card.

As access to the balcony is required by the inhabitants, I added a set of french windows. These were cut from a fly swatter and arranged in a construction of more foamcore, matchsticks and coffee stirrers to cover-up the original window and shutters.

Overall I am really chuffed with how this has turned out. The balustrade isn't perfect but is easily replaced and it isn't possible to cover up all of the imperfections of the original - not least the windows which are really difficult to paint well. This will fit in well with my other buildings and will be added to the town on my table at Partizan in Newark next weekend.

See you there!

Force on force

2011-05-19T13:11:00.000+01:00

Played a game of FonF at the club last night. I took the afghan police and had to withstand hordes of muj irregulars.

Very much enjoyed the game and have ordered a copy of the rules from Amazon. The might work well for the VBCW "little" project.

Back to Montebello

2011-05-12T20:59:00.000+01:00

We played a smaller game at the club this week. Sticking with the same rules we rolled out my old scenario for Montebello with 8 or so French brigades taking on around a dozen Austrian. The Kaiserliks have the advantage of numbers while Lannes's army has the quality and command...or so we thought.

The French had a great start, decimating one of the three Austrian divisions and sending Watrin's renforcements across the river to threaten the Austrian left and rear. With 3 game-hours remaining the Austrians had been pushed to their breakpoint but it was then that Lannes lost all ability to command troops. The second half of the French pincer first halted then withdrew, taking the pressure off the Austrians and removing all of the impetus from the attack. Watrin (me) tried to be too clever and attacked two cavalry brogades with the infnatry of his division, losing both combats when he probably would have won a single comabt by throwing in all three brigades. In the end the brave Austrians clung on for those last few hours, pushing back the last desperate attempts by the French to make the one last inroad they needed.

Austrian victory! Well done to Generals Anth and Paul. I'm sure Prince Darren and I will be avenged in the future :-)

Next week I think we are playing Force on Force.

Output for today

2011-05-08T19:58:00.000+01:00

Quick snaps of today's projects

First is the rebased Porterfield's Virginia Light Infantry: Then the two swamps (Last Valley originally) with their new paint jobs and additional foliage. Kirkwood's Delaware Light Infantry can be seen marching through:

...and in more detail below. These have also been re-based today:

Lastly, my latest company of British grenadiers gets its feet onto a base:

Hope you had a good weekend!

Preparing for Partizan XI

2011-05-08T16:40:00.000+01:00

OK, so if I am going to put on a demo game I need a scenario...

As I haven't yet bought any French let alone painted them, the scenario I have planned for them will have to wait. As an interim battle I spent some time this morning cooking up an alternative to Camden. In my scenario Gates falls back into North Carolina rather than facing Cornwallis and takes position near Charlotte where he is joined by Daniel Morgan, newly arrived from the North. Cornwallis, after securing South Carolina has moved north in late October, eager to bring the enemy to battle before the winter. Arriving in the vicinity of Charlotte the British advance guard report the enemy disposed in several lines. Cornwallis resolves to attack immediately...

In preparation for this I have been rebasing a couple of my older units and getting the nowly painted grenadier company ready for action too. I have also tarted up two old swamp terrain pieces with some fresh paint & flock and have made a start on a base-board for my colonial church.

Work tomorrow..

More little napoleonic excitement

2011-05-07T16:50:00.000+01:00

We played napoleonics again this week at the club. We contined the experiments with refining the Paintingshed rules, by reverting to d6 for combat but adding the qulity of the unit to the roll rather than having multiple dice. It seemed to work well, but attacking is still very difficult (probably rightly so) and this means that everything will probably work better with fully thought-out scenarios.

Below, Napoleon himslef leads the Imperial Guard to sure up his left flank where the Bavarians are wavering: ...while in the centre, Oudinot's II Corps hold the line:

The least said abour Bessieres' heavy cavalry on the right flank the better...

cheers

Anyone fancy volunteering

2011-05-05T20:00:00.000+01:00

Hey all

Slight change of plan and I now WILL be putting on a demo game at Partizan at the end of the month (calm down Darrell).

I'll be using Black Powder to game an AWI battle and wondered of anyone out there fancied playing a turn or two or three on the day to help out. I don't mind demonstrating solo, but it in nicer to have some help!

cheers
Steve

Last Wednesday (2)

2011-05-02T11:47:00.000+01:00

As promised, some random shots of the game from last week:

1. The castle overlooking the battlefield. The curved stram around it was originally for the Geminde-Au adjoining Aspern village from my Wagram demo game:

2. The massed ranks of the Empire square up against the thin red line on the hill:

3. Two divisons combined intoa mass of men, 15,000 strong to assault the KGL:

4. The British Guards stand firm (Adler figures painted & based by Postman Paul)

5. On the French left a Division of light cavalry and two regiments of Hesse-Darmstadt infantry set off on their march:

6. A more panoramic shot of the battlefield:

7: The Army of Italy commanded by Prince Darren of Newark, take on the Brunswickers but the conflict is bloody and will only be decided by a later flaning manoeuvre by the Italian Royal Guard and a brigade of French light cavalry:

8. The KGL are forced back from their hill, while the Guards get squeezed on the flank:

9. A close up of the men of Hesse-Darmstadt, still in their Seven Years War-style uniforms (Baccus figures, painted by me)

10. A brigade of French light cavalry. Hussars in front [including elite company] and Chasseurs behind. (Baccus & me again)

11. The division of light cavalry played a significant role on the left flank, eventually making the Allied position untenable despite the brave defence:

Back to work tomorrow, but its napoleonics again at the club on Wednesday night!

Last Wednesdsay (1)

2011-04-30T14:22:00.000+01:00

The game went well. I experimented with using d10 for combat rather than d6 but don't think it made much difference. Still have a few rules ideas to try out.

I took some pictures and will get them up here on Monday

Wednesday night is napoleonics

2011-04-25T19:32:00.000+01:00

Hi all

Just a heads up to anyone in the Newark area (UK not NJ) that the Newark Irregulars meet on Wednesdays at the scout hut in Lovers Lane.

This week we have planned a 6mm napoleonics game and will have plenty of room for others to join in. I'll be there from around 7 for a 7.30 kick off.

cheers
Steve

Demonstration game thoughts

2011-04-24T09:49:00.000+01:00

Hmm. I will be doing a show demo at Partizan in the Autumn and taking this to Salute next year. It will be something from the south in 1780-81 but I'm not yet sure exactly what to do. There seem two candidates in my head at the moment:

1. Guilford Courthouse - obvious, perhaps too obvious.

2. What if - Lafayette's light infantry and the French force of flank companies entrapping Benedict Arnold in Virginia in early 1781. Could expand this by setting it slightly later and bringing in Philip's British reinforcements and Morgan's light troops from Cowpens...this would give a lot of characterful units and be an excuse to field some French troops. Doing hypotheticals always seems like a bit of a cop-out, though.

An outside third choice would be Eutaw Springs perhaps?

Comments on these ideas would be welcome.

Briar Creek (3)

2011-04-23T16:37:00.000+01:00

The conclusion of the battle!

The melee with the militia had indeed resulted in a rout, but a sharp volley by the rebel main line caused the British light company to skedaddle too, leaving a gap on the left flank. Meanwhile the rebel reinforcements - two companies of regular infantry finally made it to the battlefield:Both sides now reformed their lines:

The British decided enough was enough and sent in their cavalry to break up the militia, which they did. A sweeping advance smashed in the rebel left and one troop of horsemen then withdrew leving the other embroiled in an ongoing melee:

The rebel right continued to hold firm while the British yet again re-formed a line of troops to oppose them.

The cavalry, having drawn breath, charged the militia on the left yet again, pushing them back into the newly arrived regulars:

With their left in disarray:

The rebel regulars wheeled backwards to cover the flank:

The British had now been attacking for 9 turns. Both militia brigades were now broken but the regulars were standing firm and the laurels of victory were awarded to the defenders!

I'm still hammering out the victory conditions for the scenario, but having the regulars unbroken after 9 turns seems a reasonable result.

Not sure what I'll set up next, perhaps a scenario from earlier in the war. I have one based on part of Long Island 1776 which I'm keen to test out.

cheers!

Briar Creek (2)

2011-04-22T15:14:00.001+01:00

More news from the front! The British left (the 71st Foot) concluded that the prolonged firefight was not favouring them and it would take too long to wear the militia down that way. The light company and part of the main battalion charged the militia on the rebel flank:As the redcoats crashed home they hoped to sweep the enemy away, but closing fire resulted in the centre companies becoming shaken. They held their nerve however to bring the fight to the militia:

...while behind them the grenadiers of the 60th foot began to shuffle onto the battlefield (igonre the figures, I know the 60th didn't look like this, but these are the grenadiers I have):

The 71st's centre companies were driven back but the light company continued in melee with some unexpectedly tenacious militia, who rode their luck all the way!:

The fight continued for yet another round, but the rebel generals were aware that there could only be one outcome, especially with the arrival of loyalist cavalry; and refused the remainder of their right flank, leaving the entangled militia to their fate:

Both rebel flanks were angled back from the line of battle as the last few photos show:

The British now need to deliver some decisive attacks to break through, but the dice have not been smiling one them.

More soon...

Bank Holiday beckons!

2011-04-21T17:40:00.000+01:00

Hi all.

Good night at the club last night playing Formula De. Next week it is 6mm napoleonics using my rules which are still available from the link on this blog. I might tweak the combat results a little though.

Otherwise this week I have been mostly researching the Continental Army of the AWI - which is a flippin' complicated thing!

Hope to get the Briar Creek battle finished over the weekend. Will post pics of how it ends.

cheers

Briar Creek (1)

2011-04-17T16:12:00.000+01:00

Just running through my ideas for the Battle of Briar Creek. Below is the situation 4-turns into the game. The Crown have still to bring on their reserve and an aggressive move by the rebel left has forced them to deploy their regulars in harms way where they have been taking a lot of hits from militia musketry. Surely the militia can't hold out forever can they?

..and here is a shot from the other side of the garage!:

I was worried this might be a bit of a walkover for the Crown, but it is developing into an interesting little game. It does need carefully constructed victory conditions though as in the end I'm certain the Crown side will "win" in the traditional sense.

AWI Grenadiers WIP

2011-04-17T13:43:00.000+01:00

Not quite finished, but very close. I have finally got round to putting brush to paint and resurrected some British grenadiers after a nast experiment with Army Painter dip, which did not suit them at all.

three more to go to complete another company for my grenadier battalion

cheers

Plastic AWI

2011-04-16T18:52:00.000+01:00

The Perrys have announced that one of their next plastic releases will be AWI British Infantry - cut down coats with cocked hats/round hats/saratoga cap head options - brill. After that will be Continentals and Militia. Good news!

Hanging Rock (2)

2011-04-16T18:23:00.000+01:00

Welcome to part 2 of my Hanging Rock refight. Rebel Right The right-had rebel column had not moved with the alacrity of the other two columns and found itself engaged with a better-prepared defence. By the end of turn 2 each side had taken casualties and the rebels were preparing to bring in Davie's light dragoons: The dragoons smashed into one of the British Legion companies, shaking it but not breaking it.

the militia and dragoons fell back to regroup while the loyalist forces formed an ever more organised defensive line:

..a line that was disrupted by the belated emergence of the rebel centre column on their right flank, sweeping away the loyalist militia and threatening the gun!:

Not wishing to be cut-off, the loyalists drove back the centre column then retired behind the cabin with the intention of linking-up with Carden and the PoWAR:

The rebels contineud to press on but with little success, both sides were now seriously weakened:

Centre column

The centre column rapidly routed the majority of Bryan's tory militia but one stubborn company remained on the top of the hill and proved difficult to shift; no doubt aided by the umpire's application of a higher morale value then they actually deserved, but they did roll some fantasic die too - I've seldom seen so many 5s and 6s.

A second tory company fell back to the bottom of the hill to offer a little defence if it could. Difficult for a broken command to achieve:

On the following turn the rebel milita continued to chop-up both tory companies but they still hung on somehow:

...before finally succumbing on turn 4 and allowing the centre column to push some of its troops through the woods to aid the right-hand column - but too little too late if they hoped to destroy the provincials around the cabin:

Left Column

This column had found itself prematurely engaged with the PoWAR and despite routing one loyalist company it now found itself engaged in a fight it had little chance of winning with its rapidly diminishing ammunition. An enthusiastic charge was delivered:

..but was dirven back with heavy casualties and the remaining militia hung on as a broken command:

...and hung in there a little longer before finally routing:

End

In the Crown portion of turn 6 the loyalists fell back from the cabin to form an organised defence, the PoWAR on the right and Rousselet's men on the left with the gun in the centre and the newly arrived troop of the Legion cavalry in support:

Much like the real battle the rebels had captured Bryan's camp and the central camp but had run out of steam before they could rout their opponents completely. The Crown had done slightly better but I think I'd still award a very minor victory to the rebels who still achieved a lot with not very much more than audacity and a tot of rum.

Next planned battle is Briar Creek, Georgia.

Bye for now!

Hanging Rock (1)

2011-04-15T17:38:00.000+01:00

Hi again, twice in one day, what on earth is going on! The trip to the space centre was fun and the journey home not too taxing so I have been playtesting my scenario for the Battle of Hanging Rock. Anyone wanting more information on this fascinating little battle should hop over to AD's Blog where you'll find some excellent research. For this battle I am using Black Powder rules with standard units being 6-figure companies - somewhat different to the massive tabletop games seen in the rulebook itself, but an approach that I am finding gives excellent AWI games on a 6x4 or 8x4 table. Here is the set-up at the start of the battle. As you can see there are lots of trees. In the distant hill in among the woods are Bryan's loyalist militia. Clustered around the hut is the Crown forces' central camp while Major Carden and the Prince of Wales's American Regiment (PoWAR) are camped in the woods at the botton right hand corner of the photo:

In the following photos we'll follow the action during turn 1.

Rebel left:

The left-hand column of the rebel army - 5 companies of militia - arrives somewhat west of its historical position and finds itself confronted with the PoWAR camp, which it immediately attacks.

...using the element of surprise the rebel militia rapidly overcome one PoWAR company but the remaining three are now shaking themselves intoa defensive line.

Rebel Centre:

The rebel centre with seven militia companies crashes into Bryan's loyalist militia on the hill. Again the element of surprise is in their favour despite one company being disordered by its rapid crossing of the stream...

...and wide holes are ripped in Bryan's position

Ignore the red coats. Bryan's men were probably not uniformed but I didn't want to confuse them with the rebels!

Rebel right:

Lastly, the rebel right-hand column of two militia companies, Davie's light dragoons and accompanying light infantry march across the bridge, heading towards the cetral camp. They don't move with sufficient alacrity to attack the camp on turn 1.

...so Captain Rousselet of the British Legion seizes the opportunity to form a defensive line

...but those rebels keep on coming!

Hope you enjoy this eye candy. More Hanging Rock action tomorrow.

Back on the blogosphere

2011-04-15T08:38:00.001+01:00

Hi chaps Where did all that time go? Anyway, I am still ploughing on with writing AWI scenarios and seemt to be finally getting somewhere and can start thinking about future projects. Over the last year both my gaming and painting have been pushed into the background by family life, work and the writing but I hoipe to be able to rectify that over the summer. I still have a lot of started projects that I'd like to make progress with (6mm Waterloo, 28mm ECW, etc) and for my recent birthday I was kindly given some Perry ACW plastics which have me thinking about the possibility of reusing my AWI terrain for the later period. I have been running through ideas for Black Powder and have found it works well as a semi-skirmish set using standard sized units of 6-8 figures representing 1-2 companies. This lets me fight interesting brigade sized actions on an average sized table. For the ACW this would include things like Chamberlain's defence of Little Round Top and avoids the need for a massive investment in figures and painting. No Salute for me this year, but I hope to get down there in 2012 either as a punter or with an AWI demo game (anyone fancy helping out if I do this?). The Perries are promising some new plastic 3-ups at this years show and I really hope that at least one AWI set is in the offing! That's all for now folks. I'm off to the National Space Centre in Leicester with the family. Hope to take lots of photos. Don't forget Partizan on the 29th May. cheers

Quiet week

2011-02-13T13:57:00.001Z

Not a busy week on the gaming front. Managed to get some paint on my Oscan hoplites which will serve as Tarentines. Hope to get these finished off next weekend.

This weekend has been taken up with family get together, rugby, more rugby, yet more reugby and I'm off to see Steve Punt & Hugh Dennis tonight.

The writing project has gone well this week though.

Cheers
Steve

DBA battles tonight

2011-02-02T22:13:00.000Z

Four more battles tonight to help get me back into the swing of DBA. The first three saw my middle imperial romans take on the parthians while for the last we switched to marian romans vs later pre-islamic arabs.

Well, I managed one win!

On the Pyrrhic front, the army continues to come together. I have just received some very nice macedonian/successor generals from Xyston (Scotia Micromodels) to replace the Essex ones for a bit of variety and I have some Oscan hoplites on order from Chariot (Magister Militum). Army Painter is working fine on the 15mm figures and I think this scale is more forgiving of this approach than 28mm.

cheers

The armies assemble

2011-01-23T20:08:00.000Z

My order from Essex miniatures arrived early on Saturday morning and this meant I could get down to a good session of sorting figures out and gluing them to lolly sticks, ready for painting. I managed to get everything done that I wanted to undercoat and to apply a nice coat of white primer in the afternoon, along with helping the kids with their homework.

I am going for a white undercoat and army painter strong tone to finish, in the hope this will make for a fairly fast production line. As an experiment I have completed the block painting of my Pyrrhic elephants and am now waiting for the army painter to dry over the next few days. This will let me know if the colours O have chosen as the "theme" for the army look OK, or if they are too dark.

The Pyrrhic army is currently intended to have a main colour of burgandy with plenty of yellow bits + pieces and the occasional flash of purple on the commanders. Pturges etc will mainly be in white.

This weekend took me back to my 20s when I lived in Essex and would often pop down to Canvey Island to pick up my Essex miniatures fresh from the mould and spend weekends getting them fit for the table. This is looking like being something of a retro year!

Pics of the elephants next weekend IF they look OK :-)

cheers

DBA: Pyrrhus vs Sparta

2011-01-19T22:55:00.000Z

Don't panic, I haven't received and painted a Pyrrhic army in the last few days! At the club tonight Luarence and I decided to play a regular DBA game rather than emark on a BBDBA bash as it was so long since we last rolled the rules out.

I took along a few boxes of my assorted 15mm ancients and we decided on making up a Pyrrhic army from some Successor bits & pieces. To oppose this, a brief galnce at the possible enemies came up with Spartans (list II/33c).

From memory this gave Laurence: 1x Cv(Gen), 1 x Cv, 1 x El, 1 x Ax, 2 x Sp, 1 x Ps, 1 x LH and 4 x Pk. My Spartans had 1 x Sp(Gen), 5 x Sp, 2 x Ax, 2 x Ps, 1 x Cv, 1 x LH. I was on the defensive so placed two woods and a gentle hill on the table. On reflection, more hills might have been more suitable to my army.

The battle was a little chaotic, reflecting our lack of practice. Initially I managed to create pressure despite having little in the way of a plan, but much of the Pyrrhic army was able to recoil or flee from my slow moving spears and in the end my disorgansied army succumbed to its opposition. Despite the loss I had a great time and will be proceeding with my plan to play a lot more DBA and BBDBA during 2011!

Lessons from today are to get much more familiar with the combat factors, rear support bonuses and "quick kill" opportunities of the various element types. I used to be very familiar with these, but some have changed and I have obviously become a little rusty.

I'll report on progress on Sunday!

cheers

Order placed

2011-01-16T17:02:00.000Z

Hi all, It is Sunday so I am posting again as promised!

I have been away for a long weekend which, among other things, gave me a chance to finalise my ideas about those new BBDBA armies. I have decided to go for a matched pair of Pyrrhic and Camillan Roman. This gives me the pike army I was looking for, which can be morphed into a number of other armies by slightly altering the troop mix. The Camillan Romans are a nice mix, but not as Blade heavy as the roman armies that follow it. It is a simple job to convert it to a Polybian Roman army though and the pair of armies have plenty of potential to take on lots of opponents.

The order went in to Essex Miniatures so should arrive next week in time for the first paint to go on next weekend!

I have also ordered a couple of packs of Gallic chieftans to try and finish of my Gauls to BBDBA standards.

In the meantime, the Middle Imperial Romans will get an outing on Wednesday.

cheers
Steve

Happy New Year 2011

2011-01-09T19:56:00.000Z

Hi all, 2011 is here with bags of wargaming potential. I am still ploughing on with a couple of things that limit my painting and blogging time, but I'm going to try to keep some time free on Sundays to get some kind of blog entry done and maybe paint a few figures.

In an effort to get some simple, hassle-free gaming done at the club on Wednesdays I am going a bit retro with some Big Battle DBA. Despite WAB's arrival on (and departure from?) the popular scene I still think that BBDBA gives a better game if you want to fill an hour or two in an evening. While we do have the ancients version of Black Powder on the horizon I am not sure this really offers me anything more than DBA already does - and it will probably need more figures. There is something nice about simply picking up one small box after work that has my 36-element army, the small DBA rule book, a camp, a few dice and my measuring stick. It is real low-pressure gaming, not needing bulky scenery.

My main army at present is Middle Imperial Roman, which I assembled a few years a go for a club project using Essex Miniatures figures. Essex are my preferred choice for most ancients, they are a bit stylised but they maint up really easily. The exception is hoplites for which I use chariot miniatures (but their horses are very weedy). I also have plenty of hoplite greeks, numidians and enough Gauls to more-or-less make a BBDBA force. As Essex miniatures have extended their 3-for-2 offer on DBA armies I might also pick up a new army by the end of the month - but lets stick to the Romans first!

I thought I'd pop up a few pictures of the army I use. Here are the three generals. All count as cavalry (Cv) and the chap on the white horse acts as the commander-in-chief while the other two are his subordinates.
Next come the cataphracts, or "knights" in the rules (Kn). The provide some hitting power when I am up against armies with lots of mounted troops.

On occasions where cataphracts might not be the ideal thing, the DBA list allow for cavalry (Cv) to be taken as an option. Here are to ones I use on these (rare) occasions. They are actually from an Early Imperial army that I have, but they do the job. If I use them, I ignore the fact that one stand has a commander on it - all cound simply as cavalry.

Next are the light horse (LH) that provide a bit of screening for the army and can move quickly to get around enemy flanks and rear.

With the mounted arm out of the way, let's turn to the footsloggers. Below are the lighter elements fof legionaries, or "blades" (Bd).

...and here are the rest of the legionnaries, also Bd but these have 4 figures per element so don't recail quite so far if they lose a combat round.

The legionnaries work closely with the auxilia (Ax) troops, who are a lighter infatry and act to either screen the heavy infatry or to operate in any useful woods or other rough going. Only 6 elements are pictures here. I use some Early Imperial auxilia to make up the numbers but I will get round to those remaining elements some time!

The last type of infantry I have in the army are the Bowmen (Bw). As this is an eastern army my bowmen are dressed appropriately:

...and finally...the artillery.

Under the army list I could replace the artillery with more Light Horse and the Bows could be replaced with either Psiloi (Ps) skirmishers or more Auxilia but I have found the current combination to be quite effective when taking on John's Late Imperial Romans and Laurence's army of Parthians (I think) with some Arab allies. The latter combination is a bit of a toughie as is mainly Knights and Light Horse with just enough allied infantry to get in the way! My normal tactic is to form a fighting command of my own Knights and Light Horse, backed up with some cannon-fodder Auxilia - with the aim of outfighting the enemy on one flank while the remainder of the army cautiously advances, taking advantage of any available terrain. The major risks are that the enemy Knights can go through both the Auxilia and the Blades in short order and can wrap-up the roman army pretty comprehensively. This makes the majority of the roman army as much of a liability as a strength, unless there is a lot of woodland around. The artillery can occasionally give the enemy knights a shock and at least the enemy Light Horse tend to bounce-off in combat so long as my flanks are secure.

With some DBA action I am good to go with plenty of existing stuff, so no extra preparation is needed. If I branch out then I am currently tempted to go for some kind of successor force as pike armies are something I haven't done much with in the past. With only 36 elements needed to produce a complete army this seems a manageable target. After a few years of 6mm and 28mm projects I'm quite looking forward to some 15mm figures.

Plans at the moment are to kick off with a game on Wednesday week.

Cheers!

Time moves on...

2010-12-13T21:24:00.000Z

November was a heck of a month and December has not been much better! Basically work has been keeping me from doing much wargaming or updating the blog. I shall return...soon!

cheers
Steve

Davout vs Archduke Charles

2010-11-04T17:41:00.000Z

Good game last night. Lau took the Austrians and I had the French in a battle based extremely loosely on Razysn 1809 but with slightly different terrain and totally different forces.

The French consisted of Davout's 3rd Corps including a division of dragoons. These were supported by the Bavarian division of von Wrede.

The Austrians had two line Korps (I and II) supported on their right by Nordmann's Avant Garde and on the left by the heavy cavalry of the army reserve.

This order of battle gave the austrians a significant advantage in numbers, against which the French had a generally higher quality (especially among the infantry) and the superb leadership of Davout.

Both armies attempted to move forward on their respective right wings. I was a bit incautious and sent the majority of 3rd Corps splashing over the river, abandoning the defensive position afforded by the stream. This caused problems as the austrians surged forward and engaged my trrops in the centre and sent them reeling back. Both armies paused briefly to reorganise and rally, while continuing their attempts at outflanking.

The Bavarians steadily worked their way towards the austrian cuirassiers who chose to give ground. Eventually the Bavarians were able to swing left and begin to wrap up the left flank of II Korps. The majority of Davout's infsantry continued to hold in the centre, unwilling to risk further offensive operations. Over on the French left, the light cavalry and dragoons attempted to hold-up the Avant Garde and protect the flank of the infantry.

After a couple of hours we decided to bring the battle to an end. Both sides were quite exhausted and while able to hold their ground, each needed fresh reserves to make any further inroads. An honourable draw was decided.

The rules were my good old homebrew set (available from google docs by following the link on the blog). Apart from a couple of typos these still seemed to work well despite our being a bit rusty (if using them, cannister rolls 2d6, roundshot 1d6 - the quick reference sheet is wrong). I still need to pen some pursuit rules and other bits and bobs, but we'll be trying them out again in a fortnight.

cheers

Quick Update

2010-10-29T20:23:00.000+01:00

Hi all

I have been on holiday this week so have been bust with the kids etc. I'm planning a run out of my 6mm Napoleonics at the club this week, while the Black Powder carries on in the garage.

cheers
Steve

All Quiet on the AWI Front

2010-10-16T15:56:00.000+01:00

Hi all, I'm still here. Painting has taken a back seat for s short while due to work and other projects. I'm still busy assembling ideas for using Black Powder and have actually been doing more gaming than painting for the last week or two. Makes a nice change!

cheers

Lee's Legion - basing and painting

2010-10-03T08:43:00.000+01:00

I had a number of kind comments about the Legion dragoons. To answer a couple of questions/points:

The green on the jackets is Vallejo Black-green. This was painted on and then one batch had Army Painter strong tone and the other batch (and Harry Lee) had a thin wash of black-green + black. Highlights were more black-green followed by a mix of black-green and a little light brown.
Basing is deceptively simple. The figures are glued to the base with PVA. The base is then painted chocolate brown. I then glue on patches of Noch (Gaugemaster) grass matting. Once dry I paint over the whole base with watered down PVA and dump on a load of mixed flock and fine railway modelling grit. Once this had also dried a stick on patches of static grass with more watered-down PVA. The trick with the flock is to get the right mix. My rough recipe includes:

fine brown flock
fine sand-coloured flock
fine green flock (just a little)
railway model grit
polyfilla powder

The addition of polyfilla powder to the mix does two things. Firstly it mixes with the thinned PVA to bind the whole thing together and secondly some of it remains around the edge of the base (being very light) and gives a similar impression to dry-brushing the base.

This basing method, which I have used for a number of years on 28mm figures is VERY quick and easy. It doesn't work well with smaller figures as even the finest flock tends to be too "grainy". As the basing material only goes where the watered PVA flows (rhyme unintended) it tends to be easier to get around horses' legs etc than using polyfilla and a spatula! It also doesn't give unsightly white patches if it chips.

Hope this helps someone out there!

Lee's Legion - Dragoons finished

2010-10-02T14:05:00.000+01:00

I have finished off the light dragoon figures for Lee's Legion. As with Lee himself I have opted for a uniform of green jackets with chocolate brown facings. The flag is one reputed to have been carried by the Legion. I am not 100% sure of its provenance bu have used in lieu of any more convincing information. Half of the fugures ar painted in my "normal" way with layers and washes, the other half were done using Army Painter as a mid-way step. I don't find a huge difference between the two finished effects other than the faces being less "pink" with the Army Paintered batch, and this will be down to the colour I used as the base.

The american foxhound has found his way onto Lee's command base, where he seems ti fit in nicely.

Next up are a unit of americans in hunting shirts which will have a Maryland 1776 vibe and a couple of bases of grenadiers to supplement those I already have (in full warrant uniform). I have figures on order to enable me to produce the foot element of Lee's legion and the grenadier company/companies for the Guards brigade in the south.

2nd Guards finished

2010-09-29T19:22:00.000+01:00

Above is the "whole unit" shot of the finished and based 2nd battalion of guards. Below is a closer shot of some of the bases:

Next is a picture of the officers. The two chaps at front left and front right were originally standard bearers but were converted by the addition of muskets from the foundry French Revolution range (I bought a mob deal a few years ago)
...and lastly some of the rank and file:

Overall, the Army Painter seems to have worked OK and I'll try it on the 1st Guards!

(and yes, this unit was originally going to BE the 1st guards! I just lost track...)

cheers

2nd Guards progress

2010-09-26T18:20:00.001+01:00

Two shots of one of the guardsmen. Above is a shot after a sparing coat of Army Painter Strong Tone and a spray fo matt varnish has been applied and allowed to dry for 24 hours. Below is a shot after touching-up the cross belt with some white, re-colouring the hat with GW Badab Black wash and giving a quick coatf of brush-on varnish.

Overall I think the figures came out OK (shot of the whole unit once based).

Lessons learned?

Sparingly applied brushed-on armypainter works well - although I might actually need to be a bit heavier in some parts of the figure
Allow to dry for 48 hours next time as I got a bit of cracking when spraying on varnish after 24 hours.
Whites, cream etc come out looking very "dirty" and really need re-painting. This is more or less of a chore depending on the amount of white on the figure.
Large areas of blue or black look poor after the strong tone treatment. I got away with this on the blue facings but not on some blue trousers or the black hats. I have repainted the trousers and the hats look OK after a Badab Black wash. Next time I'll paint the balck areas dark grey, then army painter, then badab black
Faces look surprisingly good. I was expecting the "dirty" look to be a problem.

So, overall, better than I thought and I'll have a go at the 1st Guard sometime soon. By understanding what is needed to get the best out of the Army Painter I hope the results will be even better.

The effect is still not as good as a fully shaded and highlighted figure, but this will hopefully speed up production of rank and file troops - especially militia!

I guess the real advantage is likely to come when I get back to ancients and medievals. Numidians should be a breeze!

cheers

Man's Best Friend

2010-09-20T17:39:00.000+01:00

I have completed the first 6 figures for the Lee's Legion Dragoons and have just started on the final six, so hopefully photos will follow at the weekend. The Guards are on hold pending the arrival of my Army Painter which is now in stock and has been sent but will probably arrive tomorrow when everyone is out and will then require a trip into Newark to visit the sorting office!

In the meantime I have painted up this little chap who comes as part of the British Command pack (cut down coats, standing). I'm not really a dog person, but a quick search on line seemd to indicate that he is an american foxhound and so I have attempted to paint an appropriate colour scheme.

At some point he'll make his way onto a command base I expect - or maybe even a base of his own!

Lee's Legion (3)

2010-09-14T20:28:00.001+01:00

Here is the more-or-less finished "Light Horse Harry" Lee. I have opted for a green jacket with brown facings, why?

There are no clear indications of what Lee's Legion wore. They were initially part of the 1st Continetal Light Dragoons which wore either brown coats with green facings OR blue coats with red facings OR both (either at the same time or at different stages of the war). Late in the war, or just after, the Legion are known to have worn buff uniforms with green facings. There are contemporary accounts of Lee's dragoons being gonfused with the cavalry of the British Legion and the Queen's Rangers and as both of these wore green coats I have opted to assume (without further evidence) that Lee may have reversed the colours of his original regiment and gone south with green coats faced brown, as shown, bofore again reversing later in the war - or perhaps the coats were reversible!

I'm happy with this approach, but I don't for a moment claim it is 100% accurate or expect anyone else to follow this colour scheme!

Other angles below:

Lee's Legion (2)

2010-09-13T20:43:00.001+01:00

Above are the figures for the light dragoon element of Lee's Legion as described in my earlier post. A few figures have been undercoated before, hence the black bits.

Below are close-ups of "Light Horse Harry" Lee himself:

...and the same figure now I have started painting him!:

I'm not using "dip" on this figure but once th abasics have been done I will use a variety of GW washes and use some other glazes that I'll make myself, before adding highlights.

cheers

1st Guards (3)

2010-09-13T20:41:00.001+01:00

Quick photo of the 1st Guards awaiting their Army Painter "dip"

Lee's Legion Dragoons

2010-09-13T12:38:00.000+01:00

While busy with the Guards I thought I'd start a rebel unit of the southern campaign - Lee's Legion. The Perries make the legion foot but not cavalry - although one could adapt their British Legion figures to do this.

As my own British Legion date back to 2002 or so and were converted from Foundry Continentla Light Dragoons I opted to do a similar job on Lee's cavalry and so I spent some time this weekend with pliers, files and greenstuff. I have produced a figure of Lee himself (British officer with headswap and converted helmet and 12 dragoons including a leader, cornet and standard bearer. Most of the figures are Cont. Lt. Dragoons with converted helmets, but to aid the campaign look I have mixed in some Perry mounted riflemen.

I have researched colour schemes and as Lee's legion were confused with both the British Legion and Queen's Rangers I will go for a green jacket, probably with black facings. The real legion may have been using more practical clothing by this stage (shell jackets/roundabouts, etc) but there is a limit to hom much converting I want to do and I think they'll look just fine. When I get round to doing the Lee's Legion foot I'll also mix in some riflemen to help the units to match. Riflemen will probably get green rifle smocks and leggings (horse) and a mix of green and unbleached linen (foot).

I took some pics of the conversions before undercoating and if I get a chance tonight I'll post them here.

1st Guards (2)

2010-09-13T12:36:00.000+01:00

Work has progressed on the Guards I bought at Partizan. I have blocked in the colours on all 30 figures and am now waiting for Mr Postie to deliver some Army Painter String Tone so I can have a go at the "brush on dip, followed by some extra highlight-method" used by Davis Imrie on his Saxon Dog blog.

I'll keep you posted

More Partizan Pics

2010-09-10T23:11:00.001+01:00

A variety of shots of my demo game, kindly provided by Henry Hyde of Battlegames.

Cheers, Henry!

:-)

Partizan pictures

2010-09-09T22:29:00.000+01:00

A couple of quick shots of my layout at Partizan last weekend, using my heavily doctored terrain tiles and most of my scenery collection. The trees are all home made using the technique I described on the blog a few months ago.

Club night game Pictures

2010-09-09T22:05:00.001+01:00

Here we go with a few snaps taken during last night's game. Above the cavalry of Pulaski's Legion watch as the 33rd foot turn to face them. This small cavalry unit, outnumbered and shaken would later repulse an attack by the British Legion dragoons.

Below is a shot of the British battleline a few turns into the game. The 33rd and Pulaski's cavalry can be seen at top left.

Next, a view of the American centre, with continentals holding the fileds and militia in support. In the far distance we can see the British Light Infantry beginning to get themselves isolated:

Below is a view along the American line from their right. This is later in the game and the 2nd Maryland have become disordered, as shown by the red fluffy ball:

Another view of the British, somewhat stalled:

A closer view of the British lines. The Legion cavalry supporting the 1st/71st with the 23rd Royal Welch Fusiliers further to the fron and Royal Artillery looking on:

Towards the end of the game, the musketry of the 33rd supported by 3 pounder artillery proved too much for the 1st Maryland, who broke shortly after:

...and to the right, the 71st took on the 3rd Maryland and overwhelmed them while the von Bose Musketeers can be seen sweeping around the American rear:

A good game overall!

Club night game

2010-09-09T13:20:00.000+01:00

We played a fun game of AWI Blackpowder at the club last night. I made up a scenario on the fly, using an 8 x 6 table with lots of woods and a farm and fenced fields across the centre of the board.

The British had the following:
23rd, 33rd, 1/71st, Light Infantry and von Bose Musketeers,
all with the following stats: Large, 8/4/3+/4: Ferocious Charge, Elite, Steady, First Fire
British Legion Dragoons: 6/1/4+/3: Marauders
Hessian Jagers: 3/2/3+/2: Elite, steady, sharp shooters
RA 6pdr section: 1/3.2.1/4+/2 range 48"
RA 3pdr section: 1/3.2.1/4+/2 range 36"
(everyone can skirmish)

Colonel Webster (8) took the 23rd, 33rd, Lights and the 3pdr section, Leslie (8) took the rest and Cornwallis (9) was in command

The Americans had
General Greene (9)
Continental Brigade, Gen Howard (9):
3 battalions of Maryland infantry, each: 6/3/4+/3: First Fire
2 sections of 6 pdr artillery: 1/3.2.1/4+/2 rage 48"

Virginia militia Brigade, Gen Stevens (7)
3 battalions of militia, each: 4/3/5+/3: Wavering
1 rifle battalion, each: SMALL 3/2/5+/2
1 cavalry unit: SMALL 4/2/5+/2

Carolina militia Brigade, Gen Caswell (7)
units as above

The Americans deployed their continentals in the centre and one militia brigade on each flank. The British formed a line of battle and attempted to advance; the plan being somewhat frustrated by some poor dice rolling that saw a lot of inaction compounded by Webster's brigade taking a blundering move to the right (let's do the Timewarp, yeah) in front of Leslie's men. Meanwhile the light infantry had move up to the militia and done some real damage, but with no support they became isolated and eventually accumulated too much damage and routed.

The British did finally pull themselves together, but not before the 23rd Fusiliers had also become exposed and were routed and the Legion cavalry charged a smaller unit of American cavalry that was already shaken and STILL contrived to lose the combat at flee the field... Eventually though the von Bose Musketeers drove in the American militia on one flank before turning to wrap up the line just as the 71st arrived in front. The final turn before we packed up saw the continental infantry routed by some very shot-up British.

Pretty close to the real battles of the AWI in fact.

I deliberately kept the scenario simple as the players were either quite or totally new to Black Powder. I would normally rate Webster as a 9 and was probably too generous to Greene and Howard, but it all seemed to work. We now just need to train Laurence to roll LOW for orders and HIGH for firing/combat/break-tests and not the other way around!

I did take a few snaps so hopefully I'll post these and some Partizan pics tonight.

cheers
Steve

1st Guards (1)

2010-09-06T21:38:00.000+01:00

Right, fresh start. I have a couple of projects on and I am trying to give each one about an hour every night in the week and then see what I can get done at the weekends too.

One project is painting up some new AWI stuff with the aim being to add units suitable for the southern campaigns of 1780-81, so lots of scruffiness and floppy hats. The current unit is the 1st battalion of the Guards brigade - a composite of men provided by each company of the King's Footguard regiments. I am opting to use standing/firing figures for each of the two battalions while using charging figures when I get round to doing the guards grenadiers.

I therefore spent some time in the garage with five blisters of Perry figures and a couple of files, removing flash. I have used the British infantry in cut-down coats and have two blisters of firing line, two of standing and the command (standing ) blister. The last comes with two standard bearers and the Guardfs do not seem to have used standards so I took these otherwise useless figures and gave each one a musket to hold in his open hand - using stuff I have stashed in a useful AWI "bits box". The muskets originally came from a Foudry Horde deal of French Revolution figures, that has also provided some of my AWI militia.

All 30 of the figures, plus a dog, have been glued to little rectangles of card with some PVA glue ready for undercoating with chocolate brown paint - may favoured undercoat for most AWI figures.

Partizan Game

2010-09-05T19:34:00.000+01:00

No photos tonight as I can't summon the energy after a very busy day at Partizan. The game went very well and the Black Powder rules flowed perfectly. The initial British attack caused half the militia to evaporate, however the units that remained proved intransigent and were well supported by some artillery. The von Bose hessians fought a melee that lasted four rounds before the milita fell back in disorder leaving the poor germans shaken and in need of some rallying.

The British flank attack under Colonel Webster proved more successful but experienced sopme slow going through the woods, with successive lines of rebel skirmishers leapfrogging each other in a slow retreat. The loyalist brigade did pretty well, doing at least as well as the bulk of the British regulars.

There seemed to be a lot of interest in the game and a fair few people asking questions. I hope that it has sparked a little more interest in gaming the AWI.

Purchases at the show were limited to some blisters of British in cut-down coats to make the beginnings of the Brigade of Guards.

Reinforcements for Partizan

2010-09-04T17:29:00.000+01:00

Some last minute arrivals for the demo game have just made it off the painting table. First are two British command stand, a brigade commander above and an army general (and hounds) below:

...and the von Bose musketeers finally make it after several years of trying!

The flags are my normal efforts, printed onto ordinary paper and then over-painted. These have quite a tricky design that I have somewhat simplified. The flag cords are from Front Rank.

Hope to see you at the show tomorrow. Doors open 10-4.