On the basis ‘You can never have enough’ here is another 1812 Russian Position battery…figures are Front Rank.
And a close up.
Next up are additions to my ACW forces. Firstly are 2 boxes of Perry Artillery which I have made into 2 x 3 inch Rifle batteries and 1 x 12pdr Smoothbore battery. I have painted the command base for them and will add a GMB Union Artillery Flag. Picture when flag arrives.
And a close up. These were fun to paint…nice and quick!
Now as I plan on running a Gettysburg BIG GAME….. I decided to start getting Corps Command stands. Here are first 3. All figures are Perry and flags of course are GMB.
And the close up.
The Confederates also got some love with Longstreet and Hood getting Command bases. I need more of the Perry mounted standard bearers….so in meantime they are making do with a couple footsloggers.
And the close up.
Jeb Stuart has even arrived with friends…..
And the close up. I have picked this particular command flag as I think it will be easy to spot on a large battlefield.
I will be taking a wee break from ACW for a few weeks and focussing on adding to my Pyrrhic Macedonian army by adding 2 units of Victrix Samnites. Been a plan for many years to add Samnites and finally got around to getting 2 x 24 figure packs from Victrix. These will be getting a very simple light linen tunic with blue trim… the star will be the lovely decals that will be on the shields.
There has some love going on my Team Yankee Germans as well but will leave them until fully ready for display!
So 3 of the ladz are working on a Ligny refight so this Thursday night we had a refresher game on Prussians v French. Russ/Rob/Graham were French while Alan/Keith and Goldie were Prussians. I was tea lady.
French had 4 brigades of foot, each of 2 legere and 2 ligne with 3 batteries. Then 2 Light Cavalry arrived on turn 2. Prussians had a brigade of 9 bttns and a brigade of 10. There were 9 bttns of Landwehr who are Unreliable(ie need to beat command role to follow an order). They had 2 batteries as well and Goldie had 2 cavalry regts.
The Prussians had a small village on their right and mix of streams…trees and hedges with large farmhouse on the left. Picture below looking down road from village on right at French.
On the Prussian left view of French over stream with woods on left.
Turn 1 and Russ sends his brigade straight into attack on Alan’s defenders.
It didn’t go well…one bttn down in first French attack for Prussians!
Over on Prussian left Goldie sends his cavalry forward who see off the skirmishing legere. Hordes of French on other side of pond.
Overview on the Prussian left. Goldie had 6 of his 10 bttns being Landwehr… so at times they just won’t move. But they hate the French so get a reroll on a failed to hit in combat…just have to get them in!! I got to use my BIG BRIDGE in a game as well!!!
Graham launched attack on the landwehr in the farmhouse. It didn’t go well…after several rounds of combat the French popped. Some ones thumb got in the picture.
Russ is busy rolling up Alans line.
Graham charged some Chasseurs into the skirmishing Jager who evaded…the cavalry redirected onto the Landwehr who formed square. The cavalry retired…and are missing from this picture as they then got shot to smithereens.
So here is area BEHIND VILLAGE. Alan still holds the far building…..Russ is advancing steadily forward. Following turn Keith loses the closer building….Graham gets a unit into the rear of the Landwehr in picture….Russ has 5 of his 6 units shaken…but shaken is not destroyed so its a clear French victory here.
Over on other flank….a large combat had gone on for a number of rounds.. the Prussian Grenadiers were unable to roll over their opponents…..the Prussian Cavalry wouldn’t take any orders so feeling charitable…lets call it a draw…….
Below is the ongoing combat…Prussian pushing forward but the French do have reserves.
So that was that…. good to get Nap cobwebs out of the way.
Now I celebrated another birthday and after a lovely dinner out with my beloved, my eldest daughter and her lad we visited a whisky bar. The wonderful barmaid suggested I try the tester tray of a Ardbeg, Laphroig, Port Charlotte, Bowmore and a Bunnahahain! How could one refuse! There were even little cards under the glasses telling me all about them.
Feeling quite chipper I then asked the bar lass to get me a bottle down from the VERY top shelf…I could see a Cadenhead bottle…so she rolled out the long ladder..clammered up and returned with a 31 year Cadenhead…. without a seconds thought I ordered a drink(Anita was paying!). So this weeks review is the Cadenhead 31.
The tasting notes are:
Tasting Notes
Nose:
Vanilla ice cream, raisins, pecan pie, peach slices in syrup.
Flavour:
Dark chocolate orange, dense madeira cake, soft spiciness.
Finish:
Creamy. Pistachio ice
And am sure I could taste every single one of those…truelly I could!!
Now the 5 tasting whiskies were from Islay so were peaty but being at the lower end of the $$$ range were not to robust in flavour or complex. The cost of these 5 combined is less than the Cadenhead! I don’t think I would ever spend that amount on a single bottle(unless win Lotto) but was a wonderful wee drink to end a lovely night(thankfully I had taken the following day off work).
Next Game is an Antietam refight….Goldie tells me I am some bloke called Burnside so best read up on him.
A slow month for games…….been busy of an evening and being late winter its a bit cold down in the garage at night!(even with heaters on!) So organised a Saturday game at Hutt Club. Carrying on the current ACW theme, decided on the Salem Church scenario from the Black Powder ACW supplement. While doing some extra research on the battle I discovered a map totally different from scenario one in book so went with that!
Players on the day were Goldie, Robert and Sheridan on the Union side and Russ, Rob and Alan on the Confederate side. I was doing rules etc but had decided if a side was failing badly would bring a brigade on at some stage.
The scenario had 3 Union brigades on the East side of table with 5 Confederates on the West side. The Confederates get first move…the sides being 24 inches apart and 12 inches from North/South edges. On Union turn 1, 3 more brigades arrive. The SE section of table is heavily wooded….which has chance of units getting disorientated in them. Otherwise rest of table open with fences/walled fields and light woods with Salem Church and School in the open.
Game is 7 turns and objective is Confederates to force Union to retreat and the Union to not retreat off table!
The Salem Church map is below.
So players from left to right…Robert, Alan and Rob pointing at something. Russ in his Reb kepi, Goldie in white and Sheridan sitting obscured by Goldie.
Below is look from South to North. The three Northern Confederate brigades have special rules….can only move 1 move…and suffer a -1 in combat as are exhausted. By the end of game I wondered if designers had actually play tested this scenario. The Union have spread a thin Blue line out while they await the arrival of the rest of their force.
This was Sheridan’s 3rd game of Black Powder ACW and his first using his own beautifully painted Union figures. Below is Russ advancing…slowly…on his position.
On Union left Robert has a brigade arriving in the heavy woods. In march column and if 3 inches apart they can move on a single brigade order. If in line like the other 2 regts in brigade they must be ordered individually. The regt beside the columns got lost in the woods and ended up leaving the table edge(it came back when ordered back on next turn). Liked that wee rule.
Goldie arrived from reserve in the centre. For some reason a unit of Louisiana Tigers has joined them. The thin line of Rob’s troops face them.
Over in the woods Alan has advanced his Reb’s to try and force Robert back off the table.
Now I have an aspiration to run a Gettysburg BFG in 2023. So towards that I have started generating Corp command stands for the armies. So far have 3 completed for Union and 2 for Confederates. The single command figures as seen below will also be rebased with mounted standard bearers and brigade flags added. GMB has a great range of the flags thankfully. Painting the command figures and standard bearers is also easy..if you own Don Troiani’s ‘Regiments &Uniforms of the Civil War’, go to page 250-251…there is an AMAZING likeness to the Perry sculpts!!
Up on the North edge of table Russ was taking some stick…Russ is rolling 6’s to avoid taking more casualties…but….just to much damage being done…picture below just before they was ‘Whupped!’.
The game turned into 2 lines shooting…..and the Union just had to many numbers…so I threw Barksdale onto the table on turn 4…to late.
In south Alan is getting pushed out of the woods.
In the North Sheridan’s reserves are on and Russ has his high water mark……makes it to wall…..but Union has to much depth.
In centre Barksdale reinforces Rob’s brigade who have taken a battering.
Turn 7…..Confederates cannot win…but I decided to just move Barksdale and see….and I really wanted to throw some dice….not enough to do anything…sadly.
Alan has now been forced back out of the woods and is not in good shape.
So clear Union victory.
Will rejig sides and do again one night in the garage.
So that was that……next game in Garage on 25th which will be a practice for upcoming Ligny refight and Goldie is running an Antietam refight at Hutt club next month. Later in month Ancients will roll out again for a game of Hail Caesar. Keith has been beavering away on his Macedonians which look OUTSTANDING so time to test their mettle!
So yesterday Saturday 23rd July 2020 I ventured out to the Hutt Club for an ACW game with Goldie and Alan. Joining us there was Reg and 2 newbies to ACW Games with us. So welcome Sheridan(great ACW Name!) and Jordan. Neither had played Black Powder ACW before so this was an intro game designed to get them moving troops…having some shooting etc and to get a feel for how the game mechanics work.
So scenario is a meeting engagement with a Union force arriving on turns 1 and 2 with the Confederates arriving on turn 2, 3 and 4. The Union players are Goldie and Sheridan with Alan, Reg and Jordan the Rebels. I was umpiring/advising and being a nuisance as normal.
So turn 1 and Goldie marches up the road with his Union cavalry( regt’s plus a battery).
Onto turn 2 and Goldie has moved his Union infantry brigade(5 regt’s and a battery) out onto his right with his cavalry advancing down the road and dismounting in the fields behind fences. His artillery failed to unlimber… they did this several times. Sheridan’s brigade of 5 regt’s infantry and a battery are arriving on central road. Alan’s Rebel brigade of 7 infantry and a battery has arrived with his cavalry brigade of 2 regt’s plus a battery deploying on his left.
Alan’s cavalry with Goldie’s infantry in front of him.
Now Alan has switched from Waterloo buildings on his 3D printer to…Gettysburg buildings….here is a barn.
Goldie’s Union infantry watching the Reb’s approach.
View down central road….Alan’s buildings look great…..the fences/walls meant -1 to hit from shooting at units behind them….fields limited visibility.
Goldie’s unlimbered battery has retired to recover from shooting damage..his right dismounted cavalry also suffered and have retired. Sheridan’s brigade are deploying behind the fence line. On the right the 2nd Reb brigade of Reg(5 infantry and a battery) have marched down road to position on Rebel left flank.
Here is Reg having deployed…..Goldie got some good shooting in. Alan’s dismounted cavalry hanging around as well.
Alan pushes up on the nuisance that is Goldie’s skirmishing dismounted cavalry! To his rear Jordan’s brigade of 5 infantry and 1 battery have arrived and are heading left to support Reg. Rebel plan is to turn the Union right flank..in the open…no cover….outnumber 2 to 1….logical target!
Jordan’s troops arriving to join Rebel battle line.
I do love these big beauties….its the psychological effect!
A beautiful sight!
Here we have Goldie taking some serious punishment……we were all having a laugh at the Union commander dice rolls at this stage…not good….really…not…good.
The end is nigh…..the Reb’s were using moving lines passing thru each turn to maximise fire…and recover morale on damaged units…was working well.
Sheridan is holding the line…but Goldie’s brigades have broken…..
Now seeing this was the last turn..I introduced Sheridan to my favourite tactic…..a charge into an unprotected flank…Russ would be proud of this….Alan had exposed his flank to an initiative charge…which in ‘Glory Hallelujah’ supplement meant that’s how you avoid the -2 command roll penalty. So after dice were rolled…Alan’s unit was no more …the unit next door didn’t care so Sheridan retired back to his start position.
And that was that……Rebel win…..a slightly uneven scenario…but the Union players did not roll well either…but I think the new players got a feel for the rules and expressed a keenness for another game. So plan is to try a Gettysburg scenario on the 13th August.
A final look down the table….Goldie on left has broken…and 2 Reb brigades and Alan’s cavalry ready to chase him off and swing into Sheridan’s flank…and cavalry with their favourite target…running away infantry.
Now…no whisky of the week…my partner is away for a few days…so am home alone…so nightly meal is…steak..fries…pea’s and gravy with Whitlocks Tomato Chutney sauce. YUM YUM.
Washed down with a Saddleback Pinot Noir….review below.
So here we have Peregrine Saddleback Pinot Noir…..it is excellent.
Strawberry, raspberry and floral aromas combine with subtle brown spice and a hint of thyme. A pure expression of Central Otago Pinot Noir. A luscious and fruit focused Pinot Noir with great flavour and soft supple tannins. “It’s enticing and beautifully aromatic on the nose showing dark plum, sweet cherry, thyme and subtle mushroom aromas, leading to a soothing palate that’s succulent and fleshy. Generous and elegant at the same time with plenty of tasty flavour”
That just means it is a darn good glass to savour whilst enjoying a yummy steak!
No game next week so that’s it for July 2022….take care…Terry out!
So Gamer PaulW has returned from soaking in Whisky by the pool in the tropics for a short visit and requested a game while he was here. So….let’s do Waterloo! Its at this stage I must confess…its not really a battle I have an interest in…..as I prefer to game with Austrian’s and Russian’s…….and the only troops I have for it(apart from French of course) are Dutch. Namely a Brigade of Chasse’s 3rd Netherlands Division and von Tripps Heavy Cavalry Brigade, plus of course a command base of that Military GENIUS the Prince of Orange!
Thankfully I have PaulG’s base cloths he made for our 2015 multi player, some of the hills we made for it and Alan has been making the buildings(Hougoumont, La Hay Sainte and Belle Alliance) on his 3D printer, and PaulW has a Papelotte set sourced from Hovels so we are okay for buildings. Troop wise we are fairly okay, except Alan had to go and sell the Household Cavalry the weekend BEFORE the game to fund new Victrix replacements. Arrgghhhhhhhhh.
So the Saturday just past the Garage Gamers available assembled for a Waterloo refight in my Lounge…as its winter…..and more pleasant in the lounge and I can fit an 18ft by 6 foot table plus the dining room…kitchen and 3 toilets are readily available! The only Gamers missing were Russ who was out of town at a gaming convention and Keith who was ill.
So after spending evenings all week working out sides…troops..scenario and printing sheets for the players we actually started Turn 1 before the start time of 10am. The French players were Rob, PaulW, SteveT, Robert and Graham. The Allies were Moi, Alan, StephenC and PaulG. Rob was Napoleon and Moi was Wellington…and Orange and Uxbridge and….I was very confused and didn’t do much all game needless to say.
So below are the the ladz…from left to right… Robert…Graham….Rob….SteveT…PaulW who has already started on the whisky….Alan…StephenC and PaulG(Goldie). The painters have just finished on the room…no new curtains up yet!
So Turn 1 and Graham leads off the French attack. Now somehow…the French High Command( am sure I had NOTHING to do with it :)) got the force allocation wrong which I did not pick up on. PaulW was meant to be on the French left….with 2 Division’s of infantry and 2 Cavalry Corps seeing he can handle that many troops…and had not had a game for a while. But he was put on the right…so I got him moved to the left…but he somehow lost control of the larger infantry division and the Cuirassiers which I did not notice! Bugger!!
The Allied left anchored on Papelotte……. this is a lovely set from Hovel Models. I made small command cards for each side as I had downsized all the troops so a table top bttn represented arrox. 1700 men, a cavalry regiment 1000 sabres and batteries way down to 5 or 6 a side! A shout out to JaysWargamingMadness for the downsizing idea. The command cards listed the commands/units and any special abilities for the commander. Took these from the Albion Triumphant book.
And here is Hougoumont which Alan has printed on his 3D printer and painted up. It is smaller than the Hovel’s version which would have been way to big a piece for the game table! Alan the clever sod has made a base mat for it as well as the walls and gardens. It is beautiful. Trees are a recent purchase by Goldie from K&M Trees…..I bought some from them couple of years ago during first lockdown…outstanding service provided by Rebecca again!
So here comes PaulW and his sidekick SteveT around the side of Hmont. They did not actually attack the buildings all game. Mix of Brits and Nassau awaited them.
Close up of the action as skirmishers from both sides shoot it out.
Back on the ridge….the French can be seen advancing…they didn’t do much of this…..except towards La HayeS where the Brunswickers and some rifles were encamped.
Young StephenC has a thingk for Highlanders…has these lovely painted models and also been working on English Civil War ancestors. This is the other side of La HayeS.
More Nassaus in Papelotte and also in trees to its front. Robert’s French advancing in distance.
Back on the French left….somehow my Dutch brigade has arrived early..who would have guessed that would happen! PaulW’s whisky glass in background…..the Whisky of the day will be reviewed at end of report.
I do love a good blunder…Robert gave his battery an order…they got real confused and blundered…they limbered up and raced across the field and unlimbered by troops in woods to front of Papelotte. …and were so exhausted..they……missed!
Back on the French left….PaulW and SteveT march on…clearing all before them.
Meanwhile back over at Papelotte…Goldie charged the battery…destroyed it and retired. Graham replied with Cuirassiers + Kellerman…who added extra attacks.
PaulW is getting the casualty markers out…its getting bloody. The ‘W’ counters tell us in continuing combats… who won the last round.
So back on the right..the Cuirassiers beat up the Allied Cavalry who retired…the Cuirassiers followed on …fought some infantry…didn’t win and retired. So Goldie hit them as below…the Cuirassiers were shaken so could not counter charge…it didn’t go well…and Kellerman died!(apparently his replacements kept dying……as good cavalry commanders should!)
Turn 5 arrives and the Prussian 4th Korps arrives…..Goldie had command of them. The French had been alerted to the arrival and were moving cavalry and Young Guard over to support the flank.
View towards centre where Kellerman is heading for Valhalla…the French did not press the centre of the battlefield which was a wee bit surprising. The Allied lines look impressive…but..a lot of Landwehr there. The French infantry either side of La HayeS advanced…carefully….and were held by Alled shooting…a special star were the Brunswickers who stopped Grahams attempts to advance by disordering fire……and with so many troops trying to get around the far right flank…..the French were stopped in the centre.
Back on the French left…..Allied line is getting pushed off table……..what remains.
On right…. Goldie’s cavalry falls back from destroying the Cuirassiers.
The British in Hougmt have clambered out and shot up a French column in the flank…didn’t do much…..French turned to face and British attacked…still didn’t do much.
Sigh…..it was another of my wonderful suggestions to Alan…..
View from French centre towards La HayeS…the black smudge are Brunswicker’s..who were real stars!
Its heating up over on the left…..Ney has lead a unit into combat…he added extra attacks…he…died a glorious death…like a Dwarf Slayer in Glorious Battle…Gotrek would be proud of him! The Cuirassiers are looking for opportunities….but…its very cluttered.
Prussians are relentless…..Robert’s attempt to stop them on edge of table did not go well….
We had run out of Allied cavalry so I used Austrians……if Sri Lanka ever sorts themselves out will send some Dutch cavalry over to Fernando’s to get painted.
Allied infantry almost gone…but the cavalry had a good flank attack into some French..so some French have joined the casualty list.
Woohoo…..if you roll a 12 to form square….the cavalry complete their charge into you….ouch.
More and more Prussians pour onto table.
Oopsy…what’s that behind the French..is it a small force from Halle! I think it is fair to say this did not go down well with the French.
No matter how often we discuss open flanks…….. this happens…..
The French push around the flank has stalled…..
Sigh…open flanks…..rampaging Cuirassiers hit a Guard unit in the flank…..for 2 turns I had been suggesting moving said unit to change facing and block off rear of Hougmt….. thankfully the Gods of War smiled…somehow the French lost…in 2 Cuirassier combats…SteveT rolled 20 dice …and achieved…2 wounds! Heavy cavalry have now been added to the list of troop types SteveT is NOT ALLOWED TO COMMAND!!
End Game…..the French Guard Cavalry are sitting in rear..Grahams infantry are in trouble…the Brunswickers were amazing….I never had to use the Household or Dutch Heavy cavalry. The French Old Guard never arrived on the table..I hadn’t noticed or would have made sure they did!
On other flank…..British have had minmal damage and Prussians are rumbling forward…so we called it quits.
There is a LOT of Allied troops on this flank.
So at the end of the day…its a crushing Allied Victory. The French plan to attack around Hgmont did not work…..the Allied ridgeline defence was never really tested…and the Prussians were….unrelentless.
So onto the Whisky of the Day….PaulW had procured a bottle of Arran Sherry Cask
The toasting notes are:
Nose: Orange chocolate, with Christmas spices, lots of dried fruit and toasty oak.
Palate: Loads of juicy sherry influence, with chocolate-dipped cherries, raisins and a touch of caramel.
Finish: Oak spice, dark chocolate praline and oak char.
So we tried this wee beauty during the day….Paul then stayed for dinner…we watched the Rugby….why oh why…and then played music….drank whisky(the Arran…..a Bowmore 15 and the last of the Aberlour 14!) and wine and sang til late.
So to finish off June 22 I have 2 last game reports.
Game 1 – Team Yankee
So Goldie and I had our third 1 on 1 game of his Russians v my West Germans. Score is 2 nil to me so far! Paul had left his Hind’s at home….and my Pah’s rotors had broken off so we had a no air support game.
Below is Goldie’s set up.
Goldie set up from left to right with BMPs/Carnations on left…..infantry in front of woods with armoured cars, in the centre 2 units of tanks with AA quad guns in support and rockets to rear with on the right AA rockets and another units of tanks.
In my set up below I had from my left to right…..4 leopard 2s including command tank….3 Jaguar’s…3 M109s with M113 spotter and then 3 more Leopard 2’s. On my right were 2 Luch’s recon and 3 Marder’s with Pz Grenadiers in them. Loose plan was to occupy buildings on right with PzGrs..hide the 5 vehicles until targets within 20inches of them and to use the M109’s and Milans/RPGs and Carl Gustav plus Mg’s to keep Goldie at Bay. Then in centre and the left use the firepower and advantage in range of the Leopards with the M109’s, Jaguar’s and Luch’s supporting.
I won turn 1 and let rip at the BMPs with my M109’s. They have been the stars of previous games……however Paul discovered his save rolling dice and they ran hot! Managed blow up 1 and 3 bailed out…they passed morale saves next turn and hoped back in.
Below I have run the Jaguar’s into woods with Luch’s flanking. On left Leopards advanced to ridge line..Goldie had no artillery spotters on this flank and his tanks were skulking behind a hill. The right hand Leopards are hull down on ridgeline.
Goldie advanced down left flank…infantry and supports head for the buildings,,,,tanks also advance…artillery spotter moves to edge of woods behind the town. My PzGrs have dismounted from the Marder’s into 3 buildings. Marder’s and Luch’s hiding in the town for now.
Very poor shooting round from me….Leopards….RPG’s….Milans…Carl Gustav…..and not much to show for it!
As for the M109’s and PzGrs on flank..aaahhhhh…just Bail Outs!! Goldie’s artillery spotter in the woods.
Whew…..this time…3 tanks down and 2 bailed out!
The Carnations moved around the flank as I had taken out their spotter. My PzGrs had survived previous round of Goldie’s shooting…with casualties….so along with the Luch’s and Marder’s who moved out now the Russkie’s were in range managed to take out 5! However Carnation’s were now in direct fire range…..pain coming my way.
Russian bully boys……
On the Russkie right the unit of 5 tanks advance onto hill and take out 1 Jaguar.
And they had moved up because I had moved the 4 Leopard unit around the other side of the wood…….a cunning ruse to pull them forward……
My right flank was basically gone……PzGr’s destroyed as were Marder’s and Luch’s after next round of Russkie shooting.
Now silly me neglected to take photos of final round! So below we have Goldie’s right side tanks advanced to the top of the hill…in the woods I have 2 Jaguar’s left and 2 Luch’s skulking. Skulking as I was keeping them safe to make a run for the objective marker between Tanks and AA rocket unit. So now what I did next was reverse my 4 Leopard unit…giving me 8 shots from them and 2 from the JagdPzs on the Russian tanks. 3 blew up and 1 bailed out. Objective is now open. I then moved the 3 Leopard unit to the right and put them on the right side objective.
And we called it a draw….next turn would have been interesting…me trying to get the objective on my left….and hold Goldie from taking the one I was holding on my right…but…was getting late and we were both tired…long week.
So I need to repair my Pah’s…..and Battlefront have finally resupplied their NZ Headquarters….so I have more PzGr’s to paint…Gepards to assemble and paint!(and ground strike aircraft)
Fun game!!
Game 2 – Black Sea’s
So Alan hosted a sailing ships game as my garage was again out of commission. The endless heavy rain’s we endured during month resulted in my downstairs bedroom flooding. So had moved stuff into garage while it dried out. I now own a really cool submersible pump for the next time I need one!
So scenario is a Franco/Spanish squadron is blockaded in a port and a British squadron is anchored off it on blockade duty. The F/S force is sailing out and needs to break through the British to escape.
Alan was on rules…I was on the couch drinking tea and eating chocolate biscuits while Goldie/Rob/Keith and Graham played.
View of British ships now hauling on chains so could fire broadsides at approaching enemy. They could not move to intercept for several turns.
Close up!
The F/S ships made for the southern end of the British blockade.
This is Goldie deep in thought….lovely polished head btw 😘
Is this a ramming event approaching…..British ship has quarterdeck hits…so low on firing.
Things did not go well for the F/S…several ships down and British are moving to block the escape…it looked quite promising I thought for most of the game. As usual every throw of the shooting dice was met by howls of pleasure or derision. Players do enjoy these games.
Final despairing turn of the F/S as they fail to escape. These sail games involve lots of dice being rolled…very nice wee models…the randomness of wind changes really stuffing up a plan……makes for a fun game in an evening.
And that was that….a month of more games than usual which all things considered was quite an achievement!
July games booked so far are an 1815 game this coming Thursday, the following Saturday Friend Weakley is back for a full days gaming in the Garage with most of the crew available…again 1815 game. Saturday 23rd at Hutt Club for another ACW game…this time adding cavalry plus sure to fit something else in……..
Yes…..we only played this last month…but I thought it is such a good game….would be ideal to take to a Saturday Game at The Hutt Club some of the us in the Group have joined.
So Saturday Goldie picked up Alan and then ventured out to get me…late…..I really hate being late……in his new car he has bought to get to and from his new job..a Toyota Yaris(for those unfamiliar with one..its..tiny)……somehow…the 3 of us and the troops…cloth and terrain managed to squeeze in….and headed off. I left messages for Reg and Rob saying running late so when we got there they had grabbed us a space and placed a 6 x 10 foot table…perfect. Doug was also joining us for the game so the Union players were Alan/Goldie/Doug and the Confederates Reg/Rob with yours truelly on rules and generally being an annoying git to all :).
Set….Union on the left….Alan has the closest Union 1st Brigade and Doug the far 2nd Brigade. Goldie off table. On the right Reg has the closest Confederates and Rob the far ones.
Union turn one and Goldie arrives marching through the centre wood with Brigade 3.
On the Union left Doug has troops in woods on hill as Rob closes in. Alan has made up some dinky counters on his 3D printer….so the cannons have 6pdr/12pdr…..regts with smoothbore muskets have an ‘M’ and BLR is ‘Breech Loading Rifle’. He’s a clever lad that Alan.
Now go forward a few turns and Rob is now on the Union left flank….and rather than shoot up this unit…Rob decided to charge it as another Union Brigade was marching to block Rob’s attack on this flank but also push him back. Rob’s attack did not go well…the unsupported Rebels got well beaten.
Rob’s attack on the front side of the wood went much better….this Union Regt got smashed.
The 2 Union batteries to the left of the Union Regt have popped….and another Union Regt is now engaged.
Reg has sent his 2 Regts closet to Rob forward to support Rob’s attack… the Union Regt in the farmhouse have suffered from cannon and musket fire over several turns and is shaken. On the Union right flank their 5th brigade has arrived while on the Union left the 4th Brigade has arrived and is now moving towards the Union left to counter attack Rob’s stalling attack.
And here is that 4th Union Brigade, with Goldie’s 3rd Brigade to their right.
A bit further along and Alans 5th Brigade is racing across the table.
Now…as I had been standing for about 4 hours….and was getting bored, I bought on another Confederate Brigade,,,,,,and I have just painted some more command stands for my Confederates with pretty pink edged flags and wanted to use them! So situation below is form Confederate right to left….Rob’s centre brigade has taken some damage and is spending several turns recovering morale and softening up the Union with his batteries(to right of tresses out of picture). Reg is attacking the Farmhouse which after a number of rounds of fighting he eventually does(HINT: it pays to shake the defenders before you go in!!) The lovely double rank of Rebels is my brigade facing a thin blue line with my battery blasting away down the road.
On the Union right flank…Alan has had 1st Brigade break and is having to retire. Reg was able to get a few rounds of good shooting off and then Alan advanced into the wood leaving a flank exposed. At this point I explained to Reg the first rule you learn when playing Black Powder…never expose a flank to the enemy….and it they expose theirs…use a ‘Follow Me’ order on a unit and hit that flank!! Carnage for the defender normally follows(and it did!)
Now this is Doug’s Brigade 4..that set off through the flank woods to get around Rob’s weakened flank…and then spent the rest of the game sitting their..refusing to obey ANY ORDER TO MOVE!
End of Game. We played a final Confederate move here to see if they could destroy some of the damaged Union units but alas they managed to survive…and the Union now withdrew under cover of darkness.
So that was the 2nd Battle of Barnetts Farm…… I think it went rather well. The players seemed to enjoy it….Doug had some appalling luck with his Union 4th Brigade, which coupled with the loss of the 2 central batteries I believe cost them the game. So in 2 games…poor dice rolls to move brigades have really thwarted the Union.
So that’s another good looking game at the Hutt Club and Doug’s going to come along to a Thursday night game here at the Garage Gamers Home base in a couple of weeks. Also a nice chap Sheridan was watching the game, has ACW figures so we will head back in a month for another game!
So onto Whisky of the Week!!
Friend Weakley is returning form Vanuatu in a couple of weeks for a visit and has booked in for a game, dinner and an evening of whisky consumption and really bad singalongs to music followed by a big breakfast featuring yummy black pudding cooked my Anita(providing we are up to it). So I decided to add another bottle..Bowmore 15.
Now the tasting notes for this wee beauty are:
Nose: Dark and punchy. Sherry notes, juicy Corinth raisins. Spices. Creamy, mochaccino, sweet dates.
Palate: Rich, woody, pine oil. Syrupy. Lovely, creamy toffee and malt. Smoky.
Finish: Spicy, toffee, sherry, barley.
But…as I sit in front of the fire sipping this glorious wee drop…..all I can say is.. for once I agree.
So for something different I decided to run an 1812 game with Russians v Prussians! With a few ladz down with the covid was ideal opportunity to run a 4-5 player game, and in the end we had 4 players so perfect.
The Scenario is:
Russians –
The Governor of Riga has sent Lieutenamt General Levizov to Ekau to disrupt French supply lines. The Cossacks have detected a Prussian force marching towards you and you are ready for them! You win by breaking the Prussian force.
The Russian force is as follows:
Commander Lieutenamt General Levizov SR8
1st Brigade commander GM Veliaminov SR8
1 Hussar Regt
1 Don Cossack Regt
2 Musketeer Bttns
1 Jager Bttn
1 large light battery
2nd Brigade GM Gorbuntsov SR8
1 Dragoon Regt
1 Uhlan Regt
3 Jager Bttn
3 Musketeer Bttns
Prussians –
The French The French X Corps is marching on the vital supply base of Riga. The Prussian contingent under Generalmajor Graf Kleist has detected a Russian force moving to block the French supply line and is moving to eliminate the threat. You win by breaking the Russian force.
The Prussian force is as follow:
Commander Generalmajor Graf Kleist SR88
1st Brigade commander von Bulow SR8
IR No 3 – 2 Musketeer bttns
IR No 4 – 1 Fusliier bttn
IR No 4 – 2 Musketeer bttns
2nd Brigade Commander Generalmajor von Horn SR8
IR No 2 – 1 Fusilier
Leib Regt – 1 Fusilier bttn
1 small Jager bttn
2 Hussar Regts
2 Horse batteries
Reserve Brigade commander von Massenbach SR8
2 Dragoon Regts
2 foot batteries
2 Musketeer bttns
The Russian players were Rob with the 1st Brigade and Alan with the 2nd. The Prussians were Russ with the 1st Brigade and the reserve and Robert with the 2nd Brigade.
Below is the map of the battle. The Russians set up with 2 bttns in the village, the battery was on the small hill facing south north of the woods, Rob had the rest of his force north of the village facing east and Alan set up with most of his force on the west side of the stream in the open with some Jager in the woods! Russ set up as required with Prussian 1st brigade in the SW corner of the table and Robert the 2nd brigade on the East flank.
Turn 1 and Russ charges everywhere!
Russ sent 2 bttns across the stream and into the Jager’s you can just see in the woods. The 2 Russian bttns on the right are in the buildings. In the background are Roberts Prussians on the right and Robs Russians to the right of the battery. Below we have Russ attacking to the left of the stream…I recall one of these units popped quickly.
Below we have Roberts flank attack. …..an infantry/artillery gunline with the Hussars tucked nicely in to the rear flank.
A view from Rob’s position…Prussian Jager’s sitting in woods…..
and those Jager’s shot REALLY well…disordered the Cossacks and inflicted 2 casualties!
View from small hill of Russian positions……Rob had 1 of his Musketeer bttns in the village which left him very light on troops to hold this flank……
which Robert exploited by sending a unit of Hussars into the flank of the battery….
followed by a sweeping advance into the skirmishing Jager. You really have to cover open flanks ladz!!
Meanwhile…Russ is grinding his way forward.
So the Hussar unit that charged guns/Jager has reformed and charged the Russian Hussars in the rear…who had been disordered and unable to do much….as they were charged in the rear, all they could do was turn to face, negating use of their lances. Robert promptly charged the now about faced Hussars in the rear with his other Hussar unit. Beautiful. Elsewhere the Musketeer bttn that was in square got charged by a column of Fusiliers…it lasted a couple of rounds of combat..but…with the Cossacks already having been destroyed by gunfire…with the loss of the Hussars , the guns, the jager and now the square…Rob now had one unit left sitting in the village….and a broken brigade.
Here is close up of the destruction of the Russian Hussars.
Alan’s Uhlan’s decided not to charge..yet…but eventually they did…however..they did not do enough damage …….
and even though Russ had lost his 1st Brigade…the Reserve Brigade was just blasting its way forward with the Dragoons forcing Alans surviving infantry into squares…a Prussian victory was declared.
So the Prussian’s won this game however I will redo it..I feel the Russians handled differently will make for a closer game……..I sense a cunning plan and am very keen to give it a whirl…so a refight will be not to far away!
Next couple games will be ACW, one in the Garage and one at the Hutt Club. I am working through some new Confederate command stands and also a supply of the newish Perry Union mounted standard bearers are nearing completion so hopefully will have them ready as well.
New Confederate bases below…..would been finished yesterday..but….it has been raining so much….needed get a submersible pump to keep water at bay and spent day and night keeping as much water away from house as could!
And that’s all for today! The sun has come out…wind still blowing a gale…..but rain is clearing….so I have some clearing up to do outside!
So Russ asked the INNOCENT question……one patently devised to move us to yet another period! He has been convinced to get into Pike and Shotte…….have some of us painted figures… followed by a picture of his first purchase, a box of Warlord Games Swedish infantry arrived today.
Sigh….I have been slowly accumulating boxes of these when Warlord Games had those buy 2 get 1 free deals when we were able to buy direct from the UK…so I would get a free box of Pike and Shotte before we got forced to buy from the USA which basically stopped purchasing……exchange rate and ridiculous postal costs from the USA. But…mine are all still boxed up…for another winters day…however…I know dear old Alan has been beavering away at some….so….without further ado…here is a freshly commissioned report from Alan on his Royalist Army.
Pike and Shotte Gamingby Alan!
The message was in “tell them about your Pike and Shotte army and get the other Garage Gamers excited about a new period”… said Terry sitting on a stack of unopened boxes of P & S figures and Russell having just acquired some.
The bad news was that the bulk of my army is still on the shelf awaiting to see a paint brush… I too was awaiting inspiration from the others.
But nevertheless, I had some time ago decided to do a Royalist ECW army… with the current antics of our Government the thought of doing a Parliamentarian army just could not be stomached, so I threw in my lot with the Royalists “God save the King”.
The Pike and Shotte period has always been of interest to me with the mix of those massed blocks of pike men, the early musket, the cavalry and those big guns. The downside is those pikes are sharp and a little blood has been split.
I have competed a few units to date:
Newcastle’s Whitecoats…wiped out to a man at Marston Moor having refused to surrender.
This unit is in the process of having another 12 pikemen added to its ranks.
A regiment of purple coated troops (nice thing about this period there is little reference to the exact colours chosen by the commanders for their regiments so you can pretty much do what you like, within reason. No one is going to prove you wrong (and if any one does – just ignore them they are probably a Cromwellian).
A unit of command shot, supported by a light gun.
A heavy gun … the rest of the battery (two more heavy field pieces and a mortar) await forlornly on the shelf to be painted
A unit of horse.
Two more cavalry units and one of dragoons plus another four regiments of infantry are currently encamped in their unopened boxes.
Part 2 of Alan’s tale tonight is to do with 3D printing……
Waterloo revival
With my new toy … a 3D Printer I have been upgrading my wargames terrain.
(it was supposed to be a retirement present to myself next year… but I couldn’t wait till then – when I am officially an old person).
I had made a number of card buildings for the 2015 Waterloo refight we staged (reviewed somewhere on this site) …now it was time to upgrade to 3D representations of those historic buildings.
First off the rank was La Bell Alliance, followed by La Haye Sainte then Hougoumont Chateau. I am pretty happy with the results but there were a few bad/frustrating days …as part of the learn curve in the use of the machine, but successful prints were more common that not …it just the bloody time it takes to print the buildings – Hougoumont probably took the best part of three weeks.
The Hougoumont model is probably’ a ‘little’ impracticable for many games (measuring 65cm x75cm), but all the components can be separated so can be use in part in other games
Next project underway the village of Plancenoit – five or six houses and the church with accompanying fences, well and other village accessories. They will suffice for a typical northern European village in any game.
Some ACW buildings too follow and perhaps a nice temple or two for my Carthaginian army… so so so many choices…
But the big question now is what will now be my retirement present to myself next year?
And that’s for for today…tomorrow night is a Nap game from 1812….Russians v Prussians so should be fun!
Garage Gamer SteveT was having one of those birthdays that feature a ‘0’ so he decided to host a Game in his Garage. Steve has written the report and I have added pictures.
Enjoy.
Battle of Bautzen Report by Steven Thompson
Why host a big Game?
There was two key reasons why I wanted to host a big game for the Garage Gamers using my own old school 20mm Napoleonic armies. I wanted to celebrate a major upcoming birthday milestone (how the hell did that happen – one year at a time I guess) but more importantly I wanted to do it to thank Terry Swain and the other Garage Gamers for allowing me to participate in their garage gaming nights.
I was very much a solo gamer before Terry invited me to the Garage Gamers nights. It is the best thing that has happen to me in the hobby as I have enjoyed playing with beautifully painted 28mm armies, experienced a wide range of periods that have included ancients (elephants!), ACW, WW2 Sea battles (battleships!), Napoleonic sailing ships (which brings out the kid in us all) and recently Flames of War modern battles.
The forward to the Black Powder rulebook says it best, ”let us remember that ideal accompaniment to the journey [in our hobby] maybe found in good brandy, fine cigars, and the companion of like-minded enthusiasts.”
We may not be big on cigars but we do like fine brandy & whiskey and I cannot think of a finer bunch of like-minded enthusiasts to share the hobby with than my fellow Garage Gamers.
Planning a Scenario
I have long been fascinated by the 1813 campaign which featured a number of epic battles which are rich in the element of “what if” scenarios. Bautzen is one of these, and I was interested when reading Michael Leggiere history of the 1813 Spring Campaign about the debate in the Allied HQ for a counter offensive against the initial three French Corps that crossed the River Spree on the first day of battle.
My Bautzen game was more in the spirit of the battle rather than a historically accurate refight. I wanted to use the terrain boards from the epic Wagram battle at Call to Arms in 2019 as I have fond memories of that game and the boards lovingly built by Paul Weakly deserve to be used.
Boards from the Allied right flank
This still allowed me to retain the key elements of a Bautzen game, Allies in strong defensive position on heights, a number of fiercely contested villages as the French launched pinning attacks before the arrival of the sledge hammer flank attack. The layout of the terrain boards also allowed the Allies the opportunity to use their advantage in cavalry to inflict a punishing attack on the initial French deployment.
Allied left
I added a bit whimsy to my scenario by making the Czar as a very distracted CnC for the Allies as Terry had wanted to spend part of the day drinking whisky while listening to 70/80’s Lps on my stereo. However this did remove the best player on the Allied side from the game at important moments.
Me listening to Steve’s Album collection….managed to enjoy Elton Johns ‘Captain Fantastic’ and Patti Smith’s ‘Horses’…. some of my Fav 70’s sounds.
In planning any good scenario game you should try for an even match in player abilities and temperament and this was where I came a bit unstuck due to unexpected late withdraws. I had Paul Goldsmith commanding the Austrian Bde (I know but I did say it was in the spirit of Bautzen!) and a Heavy Cavalry Bde as he knows how to get the best out of those big battalions in white and is an aggressive cavalry commander. Rob Parks who was to command the French VI Corps and I Reserve Cavalry was a good match against the Allied commanders he was likely to face in the opening stages of the battle.
Steve’s 2pm set up SNAFU…deployed Russian Jager BEHIND VILLAGE so French took village unopposed. I had to send myself to the naughty corner in the music room and start drinking.
However due to illness neither could attend which meant I overloaded poor Keith Gates with the Austrian Bde when he enough on his hands being Blucher. Rob’s unavailability meant that Keith & Stephen Clarke had to face Russel Briant in command of 3 French Corps from move one.
Early action in the centre….players went through a LOT of units in game around this spot.
Russell is a player I have huge respect for as he sees the angles in BP rules for flank attacks just quicker than anyone else. When playing him you are constantly under the threat of your units being overwhelmed by a never-ending wave of flank attacks and playing with French he rarely fails any command rolls so these attacks come at a speed that is difficult to defend against. He only failed one command roll all game.
I also learnt a lesson about not laying the units on the table at 2am as you will make deployment mistakes which allows one side an unfair advantage which was never your intention.
How did it Play?
We managed to get six full moves completed by 4pm. Robert Nippert had the heavy lifting role of storming the heights defended by Alan Hollows entrenched Russian & Austrian Bdes.
Prussians race to fill the void
Robert is an experienced French player and due to my early morning placement blunder he quickly crossed the River Spree, stormed the village at the foot of the heights and pushed a Russian Bde back into the woods at the top of the heights. However he could not sustain his position and his Bde representing Oudinots XII Corps settled for retaining control of the village.
Table shot.. love this terrain…a lot of nights were spend in the former garage carving polystyrene sheets….applying the fields…..painting the roads….tracks….assembling the 4Ground building etc
His second Bde representing McDonalds XI Corps also managed to make it to the top of heights, storming a redoubt before facing fierce cavalry and infantry counter attacks which drove his units back down to the river line. Fighting in this zone of the battlefield settled ended in a stand-off but Robert had achieved his objectives of pining Alan’s Bdes in place and seizing the village.
Russ attacking in the centre…Austrians being Austrians really didn’t want to move off escarpment into the town when ordered to.
The key battle was in the centre between Russell, commanding the French IV & VI Corps, I Reserve Cav Corps and the Guard and Keith and Stephen with Bluchers I Prussian Corps, & 3rd Army of the West. Keith took my “what if” scenario to heart and advanced boldly forward to attack the French VI Corps but did not use the heavy cavalry Bde to provide flank support.
A lot of cavalry fought over this section of the battlefield.
Russell took one look at the open flank and reoriented the Swiss Bde he was planning on using to attack the town of Bautzen, to slam into Keiths advancing Prussian Bdes. The poor Prussian Bde was hit by the 2nd Bde of VI Corps to its front and the Swiss Bde to its flanks and eventually destroyed.
Yeehaa….Ney arrived to be greeted by the Czar!
Stephen moved this Bdes into the gap and launched a series of attacks against Russell’s advancing French. This involved a series of heavy cavalry battles which despite losing some units Russell managed to prevail, destroying the Allied heavy cavalry Bde. The end of the days play saw Stephen and Keith cobbling together a make shift defensive line as Russell was bringing up his guard units to deliver the coup de grace.
End game is nigh
Terry deployed the Russian Guard and Reserve Cuirassier Bdes to face Ney’s flank attack which finally arrived in turn four. We ended playing a game divorced from the rest of the action which more resembled an Age of Marlborough game as we both deployed our units in line to blast away at each other as Terry used his cavalry to try and take out my artillery.
Table view from Allied left.
We are planning to rerun the game in the summer when everyone is fit and healthy and it will give me a chance to tweak the scenario to make it flow a little better so we can fit more turns in a day’s playing which is always the challenge for big Napoleonic games.
But as for my two personal objectives it was very much mission accomplished!
Steven Thompson
So that is Steve’s report! I must thank him for his hospitality…fully stocked fridge…hot tea..and his lovely wife Clare provided a sumptuous feast for lunch! I personally enjoyed the bottle of Monkey Shoulder Whiskey while I listened to music before my occasional visists to the Game room…. this was the role as per the scenario instructions! PERFECT! As Steve said…he plans to replay game in summer when hopeful everyone is free of Covid.
So the Whiskey of the Week has to be Monkey Shoulder.
Review is:
Color: Dirty gold.
On the nose: A faint mix of honey and chili flakes make up the top notes, accompanied by sliced white bread. The base notes are all about malt: porridge, oat cookies, and the slightest touch of starch. Then, it transitions into old bananas, apple skins, and cotton candy powder. These aromas blend too soon until only the malt notes remain dominant.
In the mouth: The core of malt remains but with added light citrus peel and toasted rice. The fruity aromas are less distinct, giving way to wood spice, old gumamela flowers, and Manila paper. The texture is thin. It has a medium-length finish, beginning with powdered nuts and weak Victorian perfume before trailing away with toasted wood and old flowers.
Must say that is one of most ridiculous tastings have read…its a blended whiskey…was quite pleasant and on a cold day….warmed me up nicely….what more can one ask for! Thank you SteveT!!
Til next time..Terry out.
p.s Garage been out of commission for a month….we have been replacing furniture so old stuff was in garage until all sold…then popped down to the Winter playground of Queenstown to visit one of my daughters who is working there at moment. Normal gaming resumes next week.
terrysgaragegaming 