Category: Games

Franco-Prussian War Campaign – Part 2

The action resumed this weekend, with further battles as the German III Army pushed forward on both flanks, keeping up the pressure on the French.

The campaign account continues..

6th
August: Two battles were fought on this day, at Sturzelbronn and Walburg.
The Battle of Sturzelbronn
On the northern flank the Bavarian II Korps encountered
elements of V Corps at Sturzelbronn in the foothills of the Vosges and
immediately engaged, 3rd Division following 4th Division
into action. The French began the action with their 1st Division
deployed in key positions, being successively reinforced from the south by the
tired but still spirited 2nd and 3rd Divisions who had
fought at Worth 2 days previously. The French 1st Division took
heavy casualties from massed Bavarian batteries and fell back, while both sides’
cavalry divisions were used aggressively, causing considerable disruption to
the enemy. Eventually their losses, coupled with the collapse of their left
flank (and the loss of no less than 3 generals), forced the French to cede the
field to the Bavarians and withdraw toward Bitche, and away from the rest of
MacMahon’s army.
The battlefield near Sturzelbronn, looking east:
The French 1st Division looking fairly frail as they take up their defensive positions. They’ll be casting anxious glances to the right in the hope that the rest of the Corps arrives before the Bavarian hordes do:
Naturally the Bavarians win the race, and they waste no time in forming up for an assault while their artillery masses in the centre:
Despite some stubborn resistance, the French left flank is pushed from the farm complex and the overall position is compromised:
On the other flank Bavarian Cuirassiers pin the arriving French reinforcements with a sudden charge:
Simultaneously the French cavalry had launched an attack of its own over the hill behind the Bavarian flank and chaos ensued for a while. Not standing around to be routed, the French took advantage of the confusion and withdrew to the west.
The Battle of Walburg
Meanwhile to the south MacMahon saw an opportunity to strike
a counter-blow at the over-extended German left flank, but his surprise advance
to Walburg on the Sauer by a now-concentrated 7th Corps met
unexpectedly strong opposition in the form of Prussian V Korps supported by IV
Cavalry Division. In this meeting engagement the Prussians, after careful study
of the ground, executed a very aggressive plan, launching the cavalry forward at
the outset on the left to pin back the French, allowing time and space for a
grand battery to assemble in the centre. Although the cavalry were decimated by
close range fire, the well-placed artillery did likewise to the arriving French
cavalry and reserve artillery in the centre. On the Prussian right the 9th
Division took heavy losses from Chassepot fire while getting into position for
an assault which, late in the day, put enough pressure on the French left to
compound the collapse in the centre and forced a withdrawal from the field. The
French had fought well and retreated in good order towards Hagenau, while the
Prussians were left in no condition to follow up their narrow victory.
As in previous encounter battles, the Germans chose to concentrate their strength to allow their massed batteries and infantry assaults to negate the advantage the French Chassepot would have over a wider front:
With the grand battery already formed and doing severe damage to the French, the IV Cavalry Division erupts from the woods on the flank to buy time for the infantry to assemble:
On the other flank the French fired into the masses as fast as the could, but still they came on. More Prussians attacked from the woods, turning the French position:
Once the cavalry had done its job (at great cost), the other Prussian division formed its own sledgehammer to crack the French right:
General view, as the Prussian commander re-aligns his massed Krupps:
The decisive moment, as the French centre collapses in the face of massed shellfire and the arrival of the Prussian infantry on the hill (despite the latter having taken severe casualties in the process):
Final positions, with too few French left holding the line. Their flanks had held to this point, but a general retreat was ordered when the centre gave way:
The campaign was reaching its climax then. With French losses
mounting and the advancing Germans splitting the Army of Alsace, MacMahon would
be forced to pull back to re-group for what might be a final stand. Although he’d
lost contact with the retreating 5th Corps, which would now come
under the control of the equally beleaguered main army to the west, he still
had 1st and 7th Corps reasonably concentrated and with a
few days’ rest they should be able to put up a decent fight if suitable ground
could be found for a battle. Staff officers hastened west to identify the
Position Magnifique upon which the defence of Alsace would depend.
Crown Prince Frederick William received the reports of the two
battles with some relief, neither action having been sanctioned, or expected,
at the start of the day. His two Corps commanders had acted aggressively however,
and secured victories which gained important positions and served to split the
enemy army. Despite the cost, the campaign was progressing well and, while
orders went out to halt the advance and for the army to re-group, the Prince
gathered his commanders and staff to plan the final act in the battle for
Alsace…
Situation at the end of 6th
August:

The rotated counters denote the formations that fought on the 6th.

We’re looking forward to a grand finale at the next session. 🙂

Franco-Prussian War Campaign

The Franco-Prussian War began today, with some initial map moves and a couple of frontier battles fought in 6mm. Simon is playing the Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm, commander of German III Army tasked with crossing the border into Alsace and defeating the French defenders under Marshal MacMahon (me).

 

Campaign Account
 
Opening Clashes
(12/07/2015)
 
1st August
1870: III Army crossed the border and attacked the French 2nd
Division (of 1st Corps) stationed at Wissembourg. The lead divisions
of Prussian V Korps and Bavarian II Korps pushed forward, the former taking much
heavier casualties than the latter during the battle. The French were
reinforced by 1st Division from the south and by a brigade from 5th
Corps stationed to the west. These arrivals helped to stabilise the collapsing
position of the beleaguered 2nd Division, but only long enough to
allow the inevitable retreat to be conducted with some degree of order. The
German artillery, massed in large batteries, dominated the battlefield and
successive French formations were pulverized on coming into action. The
French withdrew south to Soultz, retreating further when Prussian XI Korps
followed up after the battle.
The Battle of Wissembourg:
The initial French positions, somewhat scattered and with the Bavarians already marching into Wissembourg:
Reinforcements arrive to prop up the French left flank:
On the opposite side of the field, Prussian dragoons form up in the woods to threaten the French right flank..
While massed Prussian battalions storm over the railway line:
French cavalry charge into the flank of the Bavarians as they debouch from Wissembourg, and in a relatively bloodless fight tumble them back again, relieving pressure on the defenders for a few precious minutes:
2nd August:
V Korps remained at Wissembourg for two days to recover, while the much less
molested Bavarian II Korps moved west to Lembach to protect the right flank of
the advancing German army. The Baden Division followed XI Korps, although its
Wurttemberg allies were slow in rousing themselves to cross the border, as was
Bavarian I Korps which was held in reserve due to its relative lack of campaign
readiness at the outset of the war. IV Cavalry Division moved up through
Wissembourg and Soultz to be in place to support the rest of the army’s advance
south.
3rd August:
Other French formations were beginning to converge on the forces retreating from
Wissembourg, the remaining 2 divisions of 1st Corps concentrating at
Hagenau, and elements of 5th Corps coming down from the eastern
slopes of the Vosges towards Sturzelbronn and Reichshoffen. 7th Corps
was beginning to entrain further south nearer Belfort, ordered by Marshal
MacMahon to come north to reinforce the worsening situation. The Baden Division
probed as far as Walburg, with an unidentified French screen withdrawing in
front of them.
4th August:
Taking the lead towards the south west, XI Korps approached Worth, where to the
north of the town they encountered a French force assembled  from 1st Corps’ 3rd
Division and, eventually,  three brigades
from 5th Corps that had moved forward overnight on orders from the
Marshal. In a bend of the river Sauer the close terrain forced the two armies
together into a hard-fought battle. Repeated French spoiling attacks and counter-attacks
delayed and, in places, even pushed back the Prussians whose left flank could
make little headway until events unfolded on the right. Here, the 4th
Cavalry Division came up in the afternoon and pushed past the open French left,
threatening the road west to Reichshoffen.  In the centre a very powerful central
artillery line was established, comprising no less than a dozen batteries which
systematically destroyed the French centre and reserves. With their flank and
rear threatened and the Prussians preparing to renew their assault along the
line, the French used their remaining intact units to cover their retreat and
break off the battle.
The Battle of Worth:
The Prussian XI Korps deployed aggressively and attacked in a well-organised manner. From the outset the French were hard put to protect their lines of communication.
Once again, French cavalry bravely deny the enemy space and time to deploy. Although this was an early sacrifice of much of the cavalry division, by the end of the battle it had brought dividends in terms of the delay it had caused the enemy’s central attack:
The dastardly German commander plots his attack. I can apologise for the sunny, washed out appearance of the photos, but not for the sartorial elegance:
French infantry make a final counter-attack to hold back the enemy, it was just enough to buy time for the retreat:
The Prussian IV Cavalry Division pins down the French left wing and the defenders know it’s time to fall back before they’re cut off:

 

5th August:
With their stout defence at Worth just sufficient to protect both of their
possible lines of retreat, the French chose to fall back to the west, in the
direction of the main army and to maintain communications with the rest of
France. This had the potential of splitting the Army of Alsace, with the rest
still to the south east and the Germans in a position to exploit their central
position between them.
Positions as of the end of the 5th August, with the rotated counters donating the units which fought the battle near Worth:

Hopefully there’ll be a chance to progress the campaign soon.

AMG Game at Partizan

I’ve had a fantastic day at the Partizan show today. Normally I just turn up, wander round looking at the games and buying stuff for a couple of hours, and go home fairly happy. Today I was participating in the ‘A Military Gentleman’ forum group game with about 20 other members, and had an excellent time. It was also nice to have a catch up on the Saturday with Iain, Andy and, briefly, Simon. We visited the new Civil War museum in Newark, which was interesting, and enjoyed a fairly sensible (we had early starts!) evening out and a good natter.

At the show, Graham Cummings had organised things very well and, with the help of others, put a lot of effort into making the game a big success. Members of the forum (which is run by John Ray, and comprises people who have bought the book of the same name) came with their figures from far and wide; from Scotland to Plymouth, and Jim Purky came from the US to be part of the event. Everyone seemed thoroughly delighted to be there and I think lots of fun was had by all. There was a social side too, with people meeting up in their various hotel locations and we all had a chance to put faces to names we’ve become familiar with on the forum.

There were actually two battles being played out at the same time on adjacent tables, effectively re-fighting Ligny and Quatre Bras but using our 18th century armies. The rules were Charles Grants’ ‘The Wargame Rules’ and we had a pre-game briefing on the rules and scenarios by the man himself, who was chief umpire for the day and a pleasure to meet.

The tables were laid out with a teddy bear fur terrain, prepared by Graham and the best I’ve seen done. Other features included extensive streams, roads shaved into the ‘grassland’ and buildings from Phil Olley’s collection. With the figures in place, and some gorgeous collections were represented, it all looked superb and seemed to go down well with show attendees.

 

As ever, Kelham Hall was very dim inside, so taking decent pictures was a challenge. My phone did OK, but hopefully there will be some better shots appearing on the web at some point.

I played on the larger Ligny table, holding the right flank of the ‘Prussian’ army, which was in fact largely represented by Prussian mid-18th century forces. Alongside me were Jim Purky from the US (of Fife & Drum and Minden Miniatures), who was a pleasure to meet and fun to play the game with, and John Ray, who’s figures graced the table and held the centre. Colin and Dave (Jarvis, who painted my hussars for me and which fought as well as they look) formed our left flank, which they held in style throughout, fighting the hordes of French that were thrown at them.

 

Although we all spent a lot of time welcoming and talking with people who came over to see what we were doing, we actually got through a lot of gaming. I think we managed 7 full turns, which considering the number of players and figures, and a general lack of familiarity with the rules, was quite good going. There was certainly plenty of battle, and everyone seemed to have a fair share of highs and lows. I fought opposite Guy and John (who fortunately knew the rules and guided us through, which was hugely helpful) and they were very gentlemanly opponents.

 

Overall I think we held our own, having some good musketry successes and, after a very poor start (a 6-0 drubbing!) even started to get the better of the enemy cavalry in melee. Our position was finally imperiled on the last turn with the arrival of D’Erlon’s corps (or at least some tricorned fellers standing in for them) who had actually made an appearance in this re-fight – unlike in the real thing. Charles declared a good defence by the Prussians, but an inevitable (though orderly) withdrawal. We’d be intact to fight another day, so honours were pretty even. On the other table the allies held back Ney’s French after a bloody fight, and the players had a good game there too.
I did get to have a quick wander round during a break in play, and managed to buy a few bits and pieces. A few more boats and small bits of scenery, so not too much lead. That said, I did pick up a few Minden cavalry from Gary, so they’ll go into the schedule for later this year.
After over 30 years of wargaming, this was definitely a high point for me, The spectacle of the game, the camaraderie and friendliness among the group, and sheer enjoyment of fighting the battle, all contributed to an unforgettable day. There were even some thoughtful gifts from John and Jim as mementos of the day, which was much appreciated. I also met Mark Allen, a very friendly and talented chap whose work I have admired over the years, and we agreed a plan for him to paint some flags for me.
Fantastic all-round!

 

Lion Rampant – First Game Pics and Thoughts

Lots of fun, but surprisingly challenging too – that’s my verdict on Lion Rampant after a few solo games. The rules mechanisms are simple to learn but offer a lot of subtlety for how you play the game and how you use your units. I have definitely joined the ranks of those who think it’s an excellent set of rules and I’m intending to play more in the future.

So far I’ve played through three games and have a fourth on the go, which I’ll get back to this evening. I’ve used the same forces each time (as per the previous post), but moved the terrain around quite a lot for each game to vary the setting. I’ve just been playing straight forward clashes rather than full scenarios, and ending things when one side loses half or more of its starting points worth of units – which feels about right.

For me, the unit zones of control (where no unit, friend or enemy, can come within a certain distance of another without actually attacking it) are probably the toughest thing to keep remembering and applying, but it does add an interesting dimension requiring planning and the need to be careful with your unit and figure placement.

I’ve tried a bit of everything, using the various units’ special rules and options, such as Evade and Skirmish, and of course Wild Charge which is lots of fun – but of course you tend to lose control of knights (‘mounted men-at-arms’) and fierce foot pretty quickly! The activation rolls make for an excellent solo experience as you never know exactly what will happen, and can just concentrate on trying to make the best decisions for each side when it’s their turn. I’m looking forward to some 2-player games where there should be a good mix of planning and luck dictating who gets to do what.

A few pics, mostly from the first game..

In the colourful corner, Sir Malice of the Golden Chalice, defender of the realm:

And in the brown corner, we have Vog, Lord of the Marshes and all-round thug.

The game underway. I like the force to space ratio – it feels like a big skirmish rather than a handful of individuals fighting it out. There’s about enough room for manoeuvre (and hiding where appropriate!) on a board of this size with 15mm figures.

Crossbowmen and Bidowers (as skirmishers are called in LR) set up a ‘Valley of Death’ for the raider’s cavalry to hopefully blunder into:

Knights and Fierce Foot replace tactical finesse with out-and-out aggression.Very enjoyable, unless you’re the one standing still when the enemy charge.

More of the same. I’ve spotted a ZOC error in the bottom left corner 🙁

Run Away! Must have been a savage rabbit somewhere, as the enemy were seen off at the same time.

‘Not me face!’ Although, even outnumbered like this the knight still gets 6 fighting dice so he actually managed to cut down an enemy horseman before going under.

A later game, with the hovels moved to a hill and the game played along the length rather than across the width. This made the space a bit tight, but still generated plenty of interesting action and events.

 

Interestingly, the Feudals have won all three initial games, but I’m not sure how. The knights haven’t generally been all-conquering battle winners, scoring some successes but doing badly on occasion too. The extra numbers of the raiders don’t seem to have had much impact, probably because I’ve not protected the fierce foot enough from missile fire before unleashing them where they can do the most damage. Ah well, learning to do better will be fun!

Lion Rampant – First Game

I’ve only heard good things about these rules from Dan Mersey/Osprey and have decided to have a go with them. I bought them when they came out and was impressed by the clarity of the writing and many of the basic concepts behind the rules.

I didn’t have a clear idea of how/when I would get into gaming with this ruleset but then along came an idea among the LAW forum and Ayton crowd to plan for a multi-player Lion Rampant weekend in 2017, and I started to think about a 28mm force (or 2 opposed retinues, you know how it is..). Now, 2017 is a long way off (the 2016 game being already planned), but as is to be expected with wargamers, excitement has already built up to a point where a late 2015 get-together is being discussed. I’d better get cracking then!

A friend has been working on a 15mm Medieval project and kindly sent me a QRS he’s written, which incorporates some post-publication clarifications, and a unit/troop type roster. With the table still set up from the Sambre game I decided it would be silly not to have a go, so removed a few terrain boards from one edge and swapped out the Roman fort for a couple of thatched cottages and some scattered scenery.

I’d be playing the game in 15mm, with all distances halved. This meant a board of 3 feet by 2-and-a-bit feet would be fine for a game that recommends 6’x4′ for 28mm. For figures I raided some fantasy and Dark Ages forces to gather together a fairly traditional Feudal retinue to fight against a slightly less colourful, and more warband-like mob from the fringes of civilisation.

The rules offer plenty of troop types and, on top of that, a number of equipment and upgrade options to customise things further. A sensible person would tackle a first game with smaller than standard forces and just a few unit types. That’s why I decided to go for full 24 point retinues and loads of variety. Well, I was in no hurry and would work through things over as much time as needed.

The forces are as follows:

Feudals
2 x Knights (Mounted Men-at-Arms @ 6 pts) 12 pts (1 incl. Leader)
1 x Spearmen (Foot Sergeants @ 4 pts)                   4 pts
1 x Crossbowmen (@ 4 pts)                                       4 pts
2 x Woodsmen (Bidowers @ 2 pts)                           4 pts

24 points, 48 figures

Raiders
1 x Heavy Cavalry (Mounted Sergeants @ 4 pts) 4 pts (incl. Leader)
2 x Light Cavalry (Mtd Yeomen w/Javelins @ 3 pts) 6 pts
2 x Warriors (Fierce Foot @ 4 pts)                              8 pts
1 x Archers (@ 4 pts)                                                    4 pts
1 x Skirmishers (Bidowers @ 2 pts)                            2 pts

24 points, 60 figures

Naturally the scenario for this first game was based on the standard encounter clash – called ‘Bloodbath’ in the book. Sounds like it should be about right. The cottages would inevitably offer a focal point to fight over, and the wooded hills would both channel the main forces towards each other, while offering cover and concealment to the rest.

Here’s the table and (hopefully) pretty much everything I’d need to play the game.

Next post: some pics from the game and thoughts on how things went.

Battle of the Sambre

At the weekend I thought I’d fit in a solo game of some sort, and after a bit of prevarication over a coffee I decided to dust off some Romans and Gauls and try out a modest re-fight of the Battle of the Sambre. This is something I’ve fancied doing for a long time, since first reading about the battle and the wargame re-fight in Charles Grant (Snr)’s ‘The Ancient Wargame’ – which I must have owned for over 30 years.

The Romans (6 legions of them), commanded by Caesar, have marched up to the river Sambre in northern Gaul/Belgica and are busy working on their overnight fort when they’re surprised by a huge horde of hairy locals intent on mayhem and blood. The Romans have to try to form up and defend themselves while hoping that the remaining 2 legions, who are following with the baggage, arrive in time to help.

I used home-grown rules, written by a friend, to play the game in 15mm on a gridded board. It played as a fairly standard-sized game, to which I added a few scenario-specific rules and of course played around with the initial deployment to reflect the Romans’ state of unreadiness.

So, what happened in my re-fight? I’ll aim to tell the story with more pictures than words..

The Romans in the process of constructing their marching fort. The leaders had to use the majority of their early command ‘pips’ just to reform their troops, leaving little scope for forming up a sensible battle formation – or even a full line.

 

 

 

The tribes burst out of the opposite treeline slope on turn 1 and ploughed into the river. On the left the Nervii made up the largest contingent (which was to give them some command and control challenges), with the smaller Viromandui and Atrebates contingents making up the rest of the coalition army. The river was a minor obstacle, but moving fresh and eager warbands towards an enemy is never that difficult!

 

 

 

 

Caesar did manage to make some semblance of order out of the chaos before the Gauls hit, but it was tough fighting from the start and isolated VII Legion on the right wing was steadily pushed back, creating a real risk of the whole army being outflanked. The few Roman skirmishers did quite well, causing a delay here and there and buying some time for the heavy troops to form up.

 

 

 

The Roman auxiliary light cavalry had clearly done a very poor scouting job, and although they passed their ‘flee’ test when the enemy charged out of the woods, they contributed nothing to the battle – basically due to the Roman generals being too busy elsewhere to try to get them to do anything. Reasonably historical really.

Caesar posted himself with his best troops, X Legion, on the left, trusting his sub-commander to hold the right flank.

The XIII and XIV Legions were on their way though, and the retreating right wing was clearly where they were most needed – and where they’d be able to make the earliest intervention. The death of the Roman general on this flank was a nasty set-back at a crucial point but the army’s command structure soon organised a replacement and disaster was averted.

 

 

Fighting was very fierce over and around the unfinished fortifications in the centre. The Gauls had the best of the initial clashes, but couldn’t quite destroy any of the legions to enable them to break through in the centre. Eventually the Roman fighting discipline told and, although it was touch and go until the end, they held firm and saw off the enemy here.

On the right it continued to be tougher, with the King of the Nervii leading a furious attack which looked likely to win the day.

The late-arriving column comes into play, with VII Legion on the brink of collapse and about to be saved by a timely Roman quick-step unit replacement manoeuvre. After this the Nervii tried to re-group for another attack but the Romans had effectively shored up their line and the right flank was secure.

On the left Caesar got stuck in and helped to keep the lads steady, and fortunately just when the line was about to give way, the King of the Viromandui was struck down atop the ramparts and the rest of his tribe melted away. Although the Atrebates had made progress against the Roman left flank, they were now isolated and decided to follow their allies back across the river.

 

The end of the battle, with the Romans victorious – although many of their units were on the brink of being destroyed. The Gallic alliance had just fallen short in some key combats, and couldn’t make their greater numbers tell. History had repeated itself, and although Caesar had had a bit of a scare, he knew his invasion of northern Gaul would now proceed more smoothly. He’d just need to give some thought to how he’d write things up for the Senate and the People…

All in all it was an enjoyable game, and it was nice to play a scenario I’d been keen to do for so many years.

Ayton Day 2

Clear-headed and mentally razor-sharp military geniuses prepare the table and their respective battle plans for the big ‘off’ on the Sunday; it was to be a mighty clash:

 

Below – our glorious campaign organiser (and all credit to him for that, because it was excellent). However… to think that we put this man in charge of our vulnerable left flank after its initial commander had to depart.. Well, we got what we deserved.

It may look impregnable, but Iain found it’s weaknesses. Unfortunately he was in charge:

Paul deployed a colourful array of troops:

Simon’s massed Sepoys got to build a nice long wall to defend:

Meanwhile, at the other end of the 30 foot table, the Medetian army (and navy) deployed to defend the 3rd key position.

 

Our side’s collective failure on Saturday meant that we had to hold all 3 key locations throughout the Sunday battle. The loss of any of them would mean defeat. From left to right our line was; Pete, Paul, Simon and me. We set out our defences and loaded them with men. Our combined reserves were to be a shared resource. After a quick rendition of ‘Men of Harlech’ we folded our arms and waited.
It was time for the enemy to arrive..
Andy setting up the Savage Swans and their colleagues for another long march. He had a hell of a battle with Paul’s lot and neither side seemed to yield an inch all day (apart from when Andy’ units fled).

To borrow from old Nosey, trying to tell the story of a wargame with thousands of figures and 180 square feet of table is like trying to tell the story of a ball. It can’t be done. So, some general snippets and pics..

Medetian light troops deploy to strengthen the extreme right flank as Bob’s forces appear in the distance.

Paul’s (the other Paul) asiatic hordes drove a wedge between Simon and me, so we tried to plug the gap with reserve cavalry.

General shot of the battlefield after an hour or two.

Buff somehow steered his unsteerable giant nellies right across the table and through my decoy Chasseurs. We killed 2 out of 3, but were swept away. Heroic stuff but bloody.

Al Cekic killed men in pith helmets and then targeted the behemoths, before all its crew were shot down:

The Medetian Navy says ‘none shall pass’, although in an Italian accent:

The Medetian Army says ‘watsa matta you, hey, gotta no respect?’ Or something similarly argumentative:

Our light cavalry arrive to save the day and close the gap:

 

Mehicans swarm forward, the only manoeuvre they’re taught:

 

Zap guns zap Andy’s troops. Hopefully they got the Oompah band.

Allies discuss battle plans. Long story..

The light cavalry rescue goes wrong, a lot:

Fortunately the Medetians were blazing away and seeing off their attackers:

Although the Grenadier Guard was called on to fill a dangerous gap at one point:

With the Medetians holding firm and dealing with all-comers on the right, and events too painful and inexplicable to photograph taking place on the right, Simon had to hold in the centre against enormous odds as Paul’s masses closed in:

I believe he did so by the thickness of a cartridge case, but boy was it close:

 

In the end, we’d lost one and held two positions, so our evil plan was undone and we’d have to make peace or slink off to plot a dastardly return. One day, Phetaea will be ours, all ours!

Great fun.

Ayton Day 1 – The Other Game

There were farsands of ’em, but they still couldn’t win.

The other table on Saturday saw a massive clash as the Phetreaen rebels attacked at the Pass of Ishta, and the Convent defended by the savage nuns of the local order (don’t ask). Technically these rebels were my allies (although I doubt they’d have approved of our plans for a general take-over and massive canal project) so I was wishing them well, but a victory with heavy casualties wouldn’t go amiss..

Mwahahaha, etc.

Simon and Pete took charge of a LOT of natives, everything from Arabs to Zulus, and, well, charged forward – as you do. They even got to recycle dead units I think, and you’d think that would be enough. But no, they couldn’t quite break their opponents, or capture their objective buildings either. There was no shortage of effort though.

I didn’t spot the Lucozade bottle when I took the pics, sorry.

Gary provided a Zulu horde to bulk up the rebels:

Simon tried repeatedly to capture the convent, scaling the walls each time and duking it out with the tough old dears inside, only to be chucked back out each time. Every time I wandered past looking for a cup of tea or a bit of cake, there they were, clinging to the outside of the building like a zombie horde, but the defences were just too tough.

It was a tremendous looking battle though..

Many Mexicans fought, and quite a lot died. But there was no huge massacre to repeat the scenes of two years ago. I guess the rebs didn’t have enough artillery for that!

Mexican horse artillery – are they leaving their mates to get slaughtered??

The Mexican lancers even reached the enemy this time – nice one Ken!

So, on two battlefields the combined forces of rebellion and capitalist imperialist oppression (that’s us) had failed. Oh well, it would all be settled at the capital on Sunday.

The ACW – In a BIG Way

Alongside the two campaign-related games, there was also a fantastic 54mm ‘toy soldier’ ACW game put on by Tim H and Tim W. I popped over as often as I could to keep up with progress, but am ashamed to find I only took one picture, early on the first day. Sorry guys, it wasn’t through lack of appreciation.

The figure collections only came together this year I believe, yet there were very large Union and Confederate armies marching towards each other for a big clash. The variety of poses, and the overall sense of motion and activity in the figures, made it a wonderful spectacle and the players seemed to enjoy themselves immensely.

Day 2 report to follow..

Ayton 2015 – Another Superb Wargaming Weekend

The May Bank Holiday weekend has, for the last 4 years, meant a game and beer-fest get-together of LAW forum members at Ayton in Yorkshire. This year’s event was a morphing of some of the events and forces from previous years, resulting in a fictitious late 19th century colonial clash in the deserts of Phetraea (next door to Byzarbia for those who’ve heard of it!)

Most people arrived on the Friday for what was to be a couple of day’s battle, following a lead-up of a couple of months of pre-game campaigning, mis-communication and dastardly deeds between the players, all very well run by Iain.

It was a brilliant weekend, with excellent gaming and great company as always. The result never really matters (good job too this time!), just the taking part and contributing to the culmination-of-the-campaign narrative. Thanks to everyone for making it such a good time, and it was nice to see a couple of unexpected faces who made last minute efforts to get there.

Even more importantly – get well soon Peeler, you were very much missed over the weekend.

I’m already looking forward to next year’s event, and the one after that which we’ve laid tentative plans for too.

I’ll post pictures of day 1 here, and of the other tables, and day 2, on a couple of other posts to keep things manageable.

Day 1 – The Battle of Leptis

We shouldn’t have fought a battle here at all, but I’ll not knock a man when he’s down. Too much. Let’s just say that Lord Peeler must have been several sheets to the wind when he dillied and dallied and thought this was the capital, forcing Iain to divert some of my force to Leptis to help bail him out. Still, we had to fight somewhere. 🙂

Here, then, is the Saturday table. My Medetians attacked alongside Peeler’s troops (ably handled by Phil as an emergency stand-in). Our objectives were the two buildings beside the harbour and the railway respectively, although the enemy (Andy and Gary) began mostly deployed in the town of Leptis which they’d fortified before our arrival.

 

Phil and I agreed a plan, which Peeler and I had discussed the day before, and set out to keep the enemy busy on the left and in the centre with light troops and the odd probing attack, while Phil assaulted at full strength along the railway on the right. We managed to draw out most of the enemy reserves by the end, and I had some sneakiness planned for the left flank for late in the game, by which time hopefully Andy would not be expecting anything…

Needless to say my ‘surprise’ dawn attack was anticipated and interrupted by Andy’s American Indian natives who popped up as we approached the first bit of high ground! At least they didn’t all drop out of a single tree this time.. Undaunted, we charged in, had an inconclusive melee where both sides fell back, and managed to snatch the position when Andy failed the Indian’s control roll.

 

 

The Cossack skirmishers snuck about and hid a lot, but did some fighting before the end.

Al Cekic (‘The Hammer’) lined up on the harbour building and did a bit of damage to the Altfritzenbergers, but it was a tough nut to crack.

After some delay while we sorted ourselves out, the first attack went in, but although the Sepoys did their job and soaked up enemy firepower, they couldn’t break into the building and both they and the regular unit in support were forced to withdraw to avoid being wiped out. This upset timings for a later co-ordinated attack somewhat but at least we were keeping Andy occupied while Phil tried (repeatedly) to storm the railway station and the train parked inconveniently in front of it.

My Jezzails spent the bulk of the day sniping at Andy’s guys, mostly ineffectually at the harbour garrison (although we did whittle them down a bit), but also had some fun winning a long range duel with some artillery and forcing them to re-deploy out of sight.

Finally, with only a couple of turns remaining and completely out of the blue (for Andy, at least) my floating reserve arrived and charged into the harbour. There must have been a haze on the river or no lookout, or perhaps it was just Iain’s sense of mischief! My naval battalion leapt from the boats and assaulted the building while the Byzarbian Queen pounded and gatlinged the nearby enemy artillery.

It was a lot of fun, but despite the worried looks on the defenders’ faces, it was not to be. We couldn’t force our way in and took a lot of casualties charging back in again a second time, and that was that. Unfortunately Phil had been unable to take the train station either, despite many assaults, so the attacks came to nothing in the end.

 

 

 

Fortunately we’d already arranged (in the campaign phase) for both the road and rail bridges to the north to be blown by saboteurs on the enemy’s arrival (although we’d hope it would be after we’d already passed) so we still made it to the capital first, taking the scenic route by boat – although presumably it took a few trips!

This meant we’d at least be defending in the big battle on day 2, but what of our allies on the other table…?

 

The Rearguard – Reflections

As will hopefully come across from the after action report, this was a very enjoyable game! I played it solo, and as always the unpredictable way the game evolves under the card-driven rules provided plenty of surprises and challenging decisions to make.

I went about setting up the game in a slightly back-to-front way. I laid out a 6×3 foot table, basically wanting to keep the terrain reasonably simple with a single building, an orchard, and a walled road leading to a bridge in the corner. Some trees and a small area of wet ground rounded things off. I then let the set-up dictate the scenario, and decided that an attack on a rearguard, with some prizes to carry off (2 wagons and a cannon, of which the capture/retention any 2 would result in a victory for the relevant side) would make sense.

I decided the convoy would move each time the Blank card came up, at 2d6-2″ per turn. I didn’t know how the game would play out on this basis, but fortunately in the end it worked really well!

The Fleurian force was rated Good, and was made up as follows:

Captain (Big Man Level III)
Artillery Lieutenant (I)
Cavalry Lieutenant (I)
Chasseur Sergeant (II)

  • 2 groups of 10 Line infantry
  • 1 group of 10 Light infantry
  • 1 group of 5 Artillery crew with a light gun
  • 1 group of 8 Hussars (to arrive on the 3rd occurrence of the Fleurian Blank card)

The Medetians were also rated Good, and comprised:

Captain (III)
Infantry Ensign (I)
Cavalry Lieutenant (I)
Rifles Sergeant (II)

  • 3 groups of 10 Line infantry
  • 1 group of 12 Grenadiers
  • 1 group of 10 Rifles
  • 1 group of 8 Hussars (to arrive on the 3rd occurrence of the Medetian Blank card – as it happened, on the same turn the Fleurian cavalry arrived)

I played the game straight, taking all cards, events and dice rolls as they came, as I know from previous experience that with Sharp Practice there’s nothing to be gained from trying to massage the narrative – the game itself generates all the storyline you could want and somehow manages to do so better than you could write yourself!

The rifles really did catch the last wagon (which had helped by only moving a measly 3″ in its last go) on the very edge of the table and saw off 2 desperate Fleurian attacks to keep up the chase.

In all, half the Big Men were wounded, 2 seriously, but after 4 games of this occasional campaign series there’s yet to be a fatality. At least it means I don’t have to print any new character cards for now!