18th Century 28mm – Page 5 – The Medetian Wars

Ponte di Spurlacco – A Classic Wargame Scenario Re-fought in the Medetian Wars

Having recently enjoyed a re-read Phil Olley’s short-lived but excellent Classic Wargamer’s Journal, I decided to fight a solo game based on the Spurlash Down scenario devised by Phil ( link ), which was in turn based on the famous Blasthof Bridge action from the book ‘Charge!’

Background
The Grand Duke and the King were at war… A good start, and a typical one for this sun-drenched corner of southern Europe in the 1750s.

Spurlacco is a small innocuous village in the borderlands between Medetia and Fleurie, with one interesting feature – its bridge over the River Asta, the border between our two frequent combatants. On the morning of the day in question armies from both sides are approaching the scene, with their advanced guards out in front. Both are tasked with seizing the strategically important bridge so as to allow the following main force to cross into enemy territory. The high ground to the west and the village to the east are also important for covering the advance, so need to be captured too.

Phil states that “I would go as far as to say it is a perfect scenario to aim for if you are starting out building two balanced Classic armies of Horse, Foot and Guns.”

Inspired, and now with just about enough troops to give it a go, I’m hoping to prove this assertion!

The Battlefield
The table is 6’x4’, dominated by a central river with some key terrain features on either side. Due to the style of my river bank sections, I had to square off the river with two 90 degree turns rather than replicate Phil’s diagonal river line. Even so, it retains the effect of dividing the battlefield into 2 halves at an angle. The river itself is fordable to infantry and cavalry along its length (at half speed), except for an area stretching about 9” either side of the bridge.

The hill (the original Spurlash Down) is now the Collina di Spurlacco, and reduces movement by half. The Spinney becomes the Boschetto di Spurlacco, and reduces speed to half, visibility by 6”, counts as light cover and disorders all but light infantry.

Vale Farm becomes Il Fattoria Valle and the village is of course Spurlacco. Both count as hard cover for occupants, which can be up to a full company of infantry (12 figures). As I wanted the village to be on the Medetian side of the river, (primarily so I could indulge in some Italian name changes!) I have inverted the map, so south is up and north is down.

Table plan, created while having a coffee, using my set of small card tiles that replicate my 1 foot square terrain boards. Some extra details added via Paint.net

The table set up and ready for our protagonists

The Armies

The Army of the Grand Duchy of Medetia

Advanced Guard under the command of General Amore (a veteran
of the campaigns in Byzarbia and Granprix).

Borganza Regiment (Line
infantry, 36 figures)

Sebastiani’s Converged Grenadier Company (Elite infantry, 12 figures)

Weissach Grenz Company (Light
infantry, 12 figures)

Montanelli Cuirassier Regiment (Heavy cavalry, 3 squadrons,

18
figures)

Pagani’s Field Battery (Medium artillery, 2 guns, 8
crew)

The Army of the Kingdom of Fleurie

Advanced Guard under the command of the Baron de Bevue.

Bravence Regiment (Line
infantry, 36 figures)

Friant’s Jager Company* (Light
infantry, 12 figures)

Wurttemberg Jager Company (Light
infantry, 12 figures)

Rutowsky Dragoon Regiment (Heavy
cavalry, 2 squadrons,

12 figures)

Legion de Fleurie Hussar Squadron (Light cavalry, 6 figures)

Rasalle’s Field Battery (Medium
artillery, 2 guns, 8 crew)

*this unit is standing in for the recently painted, but
regrettably not yet fully based, Legion
skirmishers I posted about last month.

Rules

The rules I’m using for this battle are Henry Hyde’s ‘Shot,
Steel and Stone’ as used at the big multi-player games at Ayton. They should
certainly suffice for this little encounter.

This is the first solo game I’ve ever played with this
collection, and the first time I’ve used a 6’x4’ table at home, so it’s all
new! Deployment next, and then the battle report to
follow..

A Mighty Tussle in Central Europe

Well I had an excellent Sunday (actually the previous Sunday but I had trouble getting this post to publish and have been away for a few days). Although it was a pleasant drive, and lunch outside was very nice, the superb weather was incidental. That’s because I had the great pleasure of a visit to John Ray’s where I played the part of the Duke of Wurttemberg in the next instalment of John’s continent-spanning campaign.

The game was titled The Battle of Schwabisch Hall, a town (despite its name) that the Duke and his army of Wurttembergers and assorted allies from the Empire were attempting to defend. John had prepared a very interesting and challenging scenario, with the Prussians under Frederick himself launching a typical Alt Fritzian flanking attack on my outnumbered forces. A big treat for me was the invitation to contribute a brigade of Medetians who served as Bavarians in their pale blue. Accompanied by 2 small units of my heavy cavalry and a company of Jäger, 3 ‘Bavarian’ battalions formed up alongside John’s lovely troops as the Prussians marched into view.

I won’t describe the battle itself as that’s John’s area, but I will say that it was very enjoyable, hugely entertaining, and it contained a few surprises! My Cuirassiers in particular had a tremendous time, and honour was served pretty much all round (although a couple of Prussian Dragoon colonels might be in for an ear bashing..)

As with my previous visit, the rules played out very smoothly and provided believable results throughout, along with a fair amount of tension.

John was a very gracious host and I’m grateful to him for the effort he put into the game. A well thought out 14×7 (in places) foot table with lovely scenery and 1,200 figures didn’t put itself together! And everything fitted neatly into the campaign narrative which explained why the armies were where they were, and what the strategic situation was; very important for deciding on battle plans and potential lines of retreat should things go awry.

Altogether, with the battle and the excellent company, I had a great day and came away freshly inspired to face the rigours of my own painting schedule. I’m already looking forward to the next (big) game later in the year.

Legion de Fleurie – Light Infantry

Further to my previous post on the development of this imagi-nation formation, since the Ayton weekend I have made some progress. I have continued to put off doing the main battalion (through laziness), so it was the light infantry next. The tremendous Minden Legion d’Hainault grenadiers chose themselves for this and I have kept the uniform blue and red in line with my plans for the Legion as a whole. Basing comes next of course, but I’ve run out of pre-mixed plaster so have posted anyway. I intend to add a complementary unit of Crann Tara Royal Ecossais advancing figures (purchased at Triples) as the uniform is very similar and I think they’ll work well together.

Eventually the Legion de Fleurie will muster the following:

Commanding Officer
1 Infantry battalion (30 figures)
2 Light infantry companies (12 figures each)
2 Hussar squadrons (6 figures each)
1 Light gun (3 crew plus limber)

I’ve thought about also having a battalion gun with the main infantry unit but for now I think the light field piece will do.

The first picture suffers for light a bit, but hopefully you get the gist.

Ayton 2014

Ayton 2014 – What a way to fight a war!

What can I say? Once you’ve spent 12 months anticipating an Ayton wargaming weekend; planning, collecting and painting your forces, and looking forward to meeting up with good friends again, expectations are pretty high. Fortunately this year’s event, as with all the previous ones, hugely exceeded those expectations.

Although I’d promised myself there wouldn’t be a frantic rush at the end this year I was still finishing off the last of my new hussar unit, St Angelo’s Ghosts, on the Friday morning – just as I knew deep down I would be. Those Perry plastic French hussars do take some painting..! Fortunately I’d packed all the rest of the army a day or so before, so once the paint on the bases was dry I was ready to set off.

My journeys there and back were very easy, considering the first one was on a Friday afternoon before a bank holiday. I stayed at the Lodge which was very comfortable, and for some reason I had a suite including a full kitchen and four poster bed. Not bad for the standard room rate! Most people gathered at the hall from about 5pm onwards, which allowed time for the tables and scenery to be set up for the 2 opening battles that would be fought on the Saturday. It was also a great opportunity to say hi to everyone again, catch up generally and of course admire each other’s newly painted figures. To say there were some stunning units present would be an understatement – the photos of the event will do them better justice.

Everyone took pictures during the weekend and many have been posted on the LAW forum. They’re well worth a look. Mine are here for day 1 and here for day 2
Henry’s YouTube videos are excellent too, giving an overview of the final battle and capturing the atmosphere very well.

Here are a couple of tasters from the final battle just to add some colour to this post:

In brief then, our team of Simon, Paul, Ken and Dave M (and Peter on day 1 as the Duke) were invading Granprix to recover it for Duke Zigor. We even had a plan, worked up over the preceeding weeks under Henry’s umpireship. Opposing us were Mark, Iain, Richie, Mike, Andy (and Peter on day 2 as the King of Grenouisse). Due to the way the campaign progressed, we pretty much achieved our aim of approaching the capital, Pescadrix, from east and west simultaneously and this resulted in the 2 battles on day 1. There were also naval actions taking place off the coast and these has some impact on the success and timing of our amphibious landings. A final show-down between the 2 main fleets is to be played out by Henry who will hopefully let us know how things panned out. Hopefully we will be victorious!

On day 1 we clearly outnumbered our enemies in the east (things appeared more even in the west) but that didn’t prevent Iain and Andy fighting a tough defensive battle for the coastal village, inland hills and the plain between them. We prevailed however and pushed them back on the capital, following up for the big denouement before the city walls on day 2 (actually set 2 days later after some R&R and a brief march). Here, after a much harder battle, we were again victorious and captured the King to round off the liberation of Granprix in glorious style. I’ve written up an account of the campaign from the Medetian perspective for Henry and am happy to see what use he makes of it before posting anything in more detail here.

Despite winning the war however, the true highlight of the event was the social side with its cameraderie, fun and wargaming in the best possible spirit. Everyone was clearly there to ensure that their opponents got as much enjoyment from the games as they did themselves. I played against Andy and Iain on the 2 days and more pleasant, good natured, company you could not hope for. My allies, Paul and Simon, were equally enthusiastic and fun to play alongside.

There were also a few other games staged by members of the group who wanted to attend, but had plans of their own that they’d been working towards. Tim and Tim have got seriously into the world of proper toy soliders (54mm etc) and put on a couple of stunning games over the 2 days. Albions vs Europans in the age of empire was superb, as was Aussies vs Japanese in the Pacific. The scenery on both ocassions was excellent, fittingly so for the sumptious armies on display. Bob and Heather played a couple of good looking VBCW games too, with the usual interesting forces being deployed (it appeared to be police vs ladies). They were clearly enjoying themselves and everyone was welcome for a natter.

Of course no Ayton weekend would be complete without copious food (courtesy of the Dennison Arms) and copious beer (the social club next door to the hall this time), which was all consumed against the backdrop of very enjoyable wargaming conversation. Naturally next year’s game was a hot topic and I’m pleased to say that we’re returning to the 19th century for this one, and in rather hotter climes..

Thanks again to everyone for attending and putting in the effort and creativity, in particular Peeler for organising things again, and Henry for his fantastic umpiring and background work. All in all a superb weekend with a great bunch of guys. Roll on 2015!

To Horse!

More cavalry for the Medetian expedition to the battlefields of Granprix at this weekend’s Ayton event.

First off, some older cavalry which I’ve finally gotten around to equipping with lance pennons. This is the El Z’teeth regiment (RSM Ottomans) who fought in the sands of Byzarbia a couple of years ago. I contacted GMB Designs to ensure I got some pennons in red and blue (turned out the Silesian Landwehr Uhlans were what I was after). I touched up the white paper edges with appropriate daubs of Vallejo. They enhance the unit nicely and give them a little bit more uniformity – important now they’re off to war in Europe and everyone else is in serried ranks of splendour!

Then we come to a brand new regiment, the Saxon Rutowski Dragoons, who are in the pay of the Kingdom of Fleurie and who will be fighting alongside the Medetians in Granprix. These are Minden Miniatures Austrian dragoons, and lovely figures they are too. After talking with John Ray I came round to the idea of having some historical units among those of my imagi-nations, and this unit appealled both due to its interesting (but not necessarily glorious) history and its attractive colour scheme.

I have had these painted by the very talented James Roach of ‘Olicanalad’ fame, whose painting on his blog has always impressed and inspired me. James kindly fitted these in among other larger commissions he’s working on and has produced a fantastic looking unit. All I’ve done is base them. Little is known about the flag this regiment would have carried, so James created one based on his research and understanding of the Saxon army of the period. I’m delighted with it and hope the first picture does it justice. More unpainted cavalry will certainly be winging its way to Ilkley soon!

Obviously with all of these recent additions, I am going to be at serious risk of ‘shiny new unit syndrome’ at Ayton, but at least pretty much everyone else is too!

The Army Prepares to March

.. well, be carried more like.

As my figures almost always fight at home I’ve not had much need to prepare proper transport facilities for them. However, with the increased size of the force I’m taking to Ayton this year I needed something a bit better than just the usual boxfiles, bubblewrap and prayer – especially for individually based figures which will be vulnerable to falling over if not packed properly. Advice from other gamers (in particular Goat Major) led me to KR Multicases, who have a vast range of storage and transport packaging for wargame armies. Their stand at Salute was suitably grand but it was a bit crowded so I didn’t queue up for advice (also, I had no intention of buying anything there as I’d have had to lug it around for the rest of the day).

I did pick up a catalogue though and had a good look at the options before ringing the company last week. I spoke to a very helpful young lady who talked me through the different options and helped me come up with a useful mix of foam trays, all fitting inside a single touch cardboard case. Everything arrived a few days later and I’m very pleased with the quality and practicality of the KR stuff. I’ve gone for half-sized trays, in 2 different compartment sizes. This gives me plenty of flexibility for skirmishers, artillery crew, artillery pieces, scenery, dice and even cavalry. I easily managed to fill all the trays, which makes me think I might need to buy another case before too long!

All in all I’m impressed with KR’s products and service, and I think £25 is decent for something like this that’s going to last a long time.

Here’s a quick pic of some of the packed trays in situ.

Latest recruits

With the big Ayton weekend galloping towards us, I’ve been hurrying to base some figures I’ve recently finished painting. So let me introduce Sebastiani’s battalion of converged Medetian Grenadiers, containing a company from each of the first 4 line regiments. This is a 30-strong unit of Huzzah Miniatures.

I’ve also added a unit of Wurttemberg Jager who are in the pay of Fleurie. These are Perry Hessian AWI figures which have lots of variety of pose. I bought a dozen on eBay which were made up of one pack of command and one of Jager. This meant I needed to convert one of the two figures carrying horns, as otherwise the unit would look more musical than martial! He’s not hard to spot, but at least I managed to arm him and paint him as just one of the guys.

Next up will be some cavalry, but with the need for some pre-game secrecy I may not post pics of them for a couple of weeks. Can’t let the despicable enemy (you know who you are) have too much information!

Ayton Event 2014 – Grenouisse Ascendant

Now that we’re into April, the preparations are gathering pace for the multi-player 18th century game at Ayton at the start of May. There are 3 and a bit weeks to go, and painting still to be completed (and not just by me – I’m sure most of the other participants are feeling the pressure too). A little bit of time most evenings seems to be moving things on fairly well, but no doubt the final push will be just as frantic as last year!

Over the last week the momentum, and excitement, has started to build. Although local arrangements are mostly in the hands of Peeler (as he’s widely known), the game and background are the work of Henry Hyde, who is currently working feverishly at the multitude of tasks and communications a full-on unpire needs to look after. The volume of messages and intelligence reports that 12 players can generate is clearly enormous, but Henry is handling it with style and creativity, and there’s always a period flavour to what you receive back, and a sense that we’re involved in great events and embarked on a course that will re-shape history. Some of the general information/news items are being reported by Henry himself at Henry’s Blog but naturally most exchanges are private and bilateral with the unpire, unless players’ characters are understood to be face to face with each other in which case we can contact each other directly.

At the moment the 2 sides, one nobly seeking to recover the Duchy of Granprix which was lost to the dastardly invaders from Grenouisse in the 2011 game, the other seeking to hold onto these ill-gotten gains (you can guess which side I might be on!) are beginning to assemble and manouevre. Plans are being made, well sort of (due to the challenges of differing opinions and troubled communications), and there will be some pre-weekend campaign moves by land and sea which will hopefully set everything up nicely for some dramatic on-table action as the culmination of the story.

Orders of battle are of course secret too, and that’s where the painting pressure really comes in. No-one will want to take the field with fewer troops than they’ve previously committed to, as the only one to suffer will be themselves. I will of course post pictures of my recent additions soon, but have to be careful not to give too much away to any enemies that may be watching..

Planning a Legion

I’ve decided that one thing I’d like to include as part of my growing 18th century collection is some sort of all-arms legion, as was pretty common in a number of armies around the time of the Seven Years War. My preference would be to add one to the Fleurian army, it being inspired by the French, who had a good number of this sort of privately-raised, flexibly organised force. Getting a nice cheap copy of this recently has provided further inspiration:

So, the Legion de Fleurie then.

I’ve got the figures, just need to paint most of them. My head-start is that I’ve done the cavalry contingent already – 2 squadrons of hussars (Minden Miniatures, below), and the legion commander (the Nadasty command figure from yesterday’s post). I’ll extend the blue-red-white colour scheme to the rest of the legion which will eventually include a full battalion with battalion gun, plus a light infantry company. Theyll all be in bearskins – using RSM Austrian Grenadiers and Minden Legion d’Hainaut respectively, and head swap conversions for the gunners.

This is something I’d like to finish by the end of the year, so I need to make sure I find some time to get them done!

Powdered wigs and a bit of lace

Despite a shortage of posts this month I’ve not been completely idle. The figures I’ve been painting recently only had their bases painted this weekend so this is the first opportunity I’ve had to take some pics. Also, with the Ayton multi-player game at the start of May (and more specifically the pre-game campaign that Henry is going to run) there is a requirement for a little discretion about the forces being mustered in case any dastardly enemy spies are operating in Medetia!

Not much to be given away here though, so here are some command and staff figures and a new company of grenadiers from the Vantua Regiment resplendent in their new uniforms and mitres.

Minden Seydlitz figure and one of the mounted colonels. Grenadiers are Huzzah figures.

Minden Nadasty and another mounted colonel.

Nadasty again, showing the use of a bit of Rendera’s plastic fencing for scenery. Lovely stuff to work with, easy to snip bits away and takes a dry brush very nicely.

Seydlistz again, fantastic posing of rider and horse.

The daddy himself. Medetia’s General Barolo who’ll lead the expeditionary force to Grenouisse. Fife and Drum Knyphausen figure, with another Minden colonel.

In the gentlemanly spirit of the age, and for the benefit of any potential enemy agents who may be watching, I will offer the information that each of these pictured luminaries will of course be commanding a full brigade, or more, in the forthcoming campaign.

I wish!