Author Archives: terrysgaragegaming

September 2024 – Napoleonic game Lindenau(Leipzig 1813)

Posted on by
4

Another scenario game from the ‘Lets Fight Leipzig!’

This time we have a 5 player game of Lindenau. In this scenario the French 4th Corps under Bertrand is charged with holding Lindenau. The Village has a wall around it which on the western side can only be entered via the gate. The river is impassable to all troops. The woods are impassable to cavalry and artillery but close order infantry can move through at half speed. Lindenau is a 2 module village. The small village of Plagwitz is 1 module.

The Austrians gain a complete victory if they hold 1 module in Lindenau at the end of the game.

The French players were Rob(North side) and Terry(South side…me). The Austrians were Goldie from the South, SteveT from the West and Alan from the North.

Lindeanu defended by Rob/Terry with the Divisions of Morand, Margaron and Fontanelli(15 bttns, 3 batteries) with support from some Dragoons and Wurttemberg Chevau-Leger.

The Austrians rolled to see what turns they arrived. Turn 1 only Alan in the North arrived….he was Gyulai with a mix of Jager/Grenz/Line , 3 batteries and Dragoons/Chevau-Legers. The Village of Plagwitz is in foreground.

Goldie marches on from the south and storms towards Plagwitz.

And storms straight into the attack! Mixed force again.

Then SteveT arrived from west via Schonau…another Austrian mixed column.

Initial attack on Plagwitz is held…….but my French are taking casualties.

I pulled the guns out of the redoubt to face SteveT advancing….the Cossacks were ordered in to take the fire of the battery…..fail the charge home…allowing another unit of cavalry to then attack the now silent battery..that didn’t go to plan…the battery fluffed its dice rolls and popped instead!

Defence of Plagwitz carries on as initial Austrian attack is replled.

Austrian column charged the French square…who hold…for several rounds of fighing!

Austrian central columns attack gate into Lindenau.

Goldie 2nd attack against Plagwitz succeeds.

Sigh……the square had been holding the Austrian square off until pointy sticked Cossacks joined in……

Who then made a sweeping advance into another square..that being disordered allowing them to charge in…bye bye another square…..

The initial charge from the West was repelled…but the French had suffered losses…..

The Wurttemberg cavalry who blundered the first time they received an order and went the exact opposite direction…finally arrived…

Austrians are in the village…

While on the Northern side…..Alan and Rob had shot at each other all game…..

So clearly Austrian Victory…..I lost all my infantry…the fought….bravely!

But Austrians in South and West were aggressive and ran over me…well done!

Until next time…Terry out.

September 2024 – Napoleonic Game Probstheida(Leipizig 1813)

Posted on by
Reply

So Friend PaulW was back for a visit from Vanuatu so we had Saturday game followed by an evening Whisky Tasting(my partner was away on a Girls weekend).

Rob, Alan, Goldie and Finn(later in day) joined in.

For this game we played the Leipzig Probstheida scenario from the Steve Shann book that is JUST SO GREAT!

The Scenario has the village of Probstheida defended by Victors 2nd Corps, with some Young Guard artillery supporting. The Village has 3 modules and is on a ridgeline with the Objective of the game is for the allies to take all 3 modules to claim a victory. The Allies are Kleist’s 2nd Corps along with Wurttemberg’s 2nd Russian Corps. Various reinforcements are available to each side through the game. Should the Allies call on an optional reserve of the Divisions of Duka and Pisareff then the game is a Draw at best for the Allies.

Paul W/Alan/Finn are the Allies with Goldie/Rob/Terry as French.

Start positions with the French on the right. Goldie has the left flank Division, Me(Terry) the Village with a Division and Rob the right Division. The 2 Young Guard batteries are in Goldies force.

Alan had the Allied left and PaulW the right. Finn arrived later in day and played on right.

The Village had a bttn in each module with a legere bttn skirmishing on front of it.

Russians advanced quickly….with the legere taking advantage of this and charging the artillery in the flank and destroying them. I normally prefer to play Russians so taking out the large batteries is a priority if an opportunity presents its self.

Prussians chasing off French skirmishers.

Prussian artillery assisted by Russian column approach the village.

View from village … Cavalry reinforcements have arrive for Russians.

PaulW starts his attempt to turn Goldies flank.

On French right Rob had a long line to defend while he awaited our cavalry reinforcements. Alan is pressing the line.

Oops…Goldie has been forced off the ridge faster than we hoped!

French cavalry arrived and the 2 armies cavalry forces went hard at it. As expected with Cavalry v Cavalry….mutual extinction is often the outcome.

A prefect attack by Alan…Uhlans to front…then when French engaged send Cossacks into the flank. Cossacks cannot charge formed cavalry to its front.

I confiscated the Cuirassier Division when it arrived and used it to do as much damage/distraction I could in the center. Would have preferred Uhlans but we had none. The -2 save on a lance attack against infantry is better than extra attacks on infantry in column who are saving on a 3+.

Alan wins the cavalry combats on the Allied left.

Having picked on Alan I now turned to PaulW…aim was to destroy the column I have hit in the flank…as it could not form square…the artillery would auto pop…and I would rumble on into the skirmishers and destroy them as well. They were facing this way as my other Cuirassier regt had broken through Alans line and they were shooting at it.

Sadly the dice Gods totally deserted me …my dice were rubbish.. Pauls were not and I bounced….how…humiliating!! But… I was distracting them from the Objective!

Alan closed in on Rob’s open flank.

On the French left PaulW with Finn now in attendance is attacking the French reserves who now man the ridgeline.

Prussians have taken the front Village Module….my bounced Cuirassiers to their rear!

On French right Alan has sent his Prussians in again against Rob’s line…..Alan makes 5 hits…Rob saves all of them!

French left where continuous Allied attacks have failed to take the ridgeline.

And that’s how it ended…..the French still held 2 of the 3 modules of the Village and its a French victory. We managed to tie up and distract the Allies long enough to win the game!

The Whisky of the week is a beauty.

PaulW bought this glorious liquid with him as a Bday prezzie for yours truly

The Glendronach 25 year Old Port cask..

This handsome rascal is a 25 year old single malt from GlenDronach, released as part of the distillery’s 17th batch of single cask releases. It was distilled back in May 1993 and aged in a single Port pipe until 2019, when it was bottled with an outturn of 835 bottles. We love a good Port cask-matured single malt, and this one looks to be exactly that.

Tasting Note by The Producer

Nose Intriguing richness and depth of redcurrant, bramble jam and cherry cake balanced with bitter orange, black grape and a hint of tropical fruit.

Palate Long, silky and persistent as juicy blackberry and apricot liqueur build to mango and guava. Currant, papaya and mixed nuts linger in the fruity finish.

Drinking this reminded me of the first time I went to the tasting of some Bordeaux Reds and the revelation in the taste and complexity of it….and then was even told was meant to spit it out…like…NO!

THANK YOU PAUL!

Until next time…Terry out.

September 2024 – Napoleonic Game

Posted on by
Reply

So I organized a Napoleonic game for 2 out of towners In September. Brian and Dave both live on Rural properties several hours distant from Wellington so was a Saturday game.

Dave is collecting Calpe Prussians so I invited Alan and Goldie along as they have Prussian Armies, Brian has Spanish so on the day Goldie(Calpe Prussian) and Dave(using Alans Perry Prussians) were Prussians, with Brian being Spanish and Alan used a Dutch/Belgian/Hanoverian force. I was on food, drink and rules!

Brian set up on the Allied right. Some pictures of his Spanish..I do like the look.

Some of Alans force on Allied left.

Centre of table with combined advance on central village.

View down table. Dave’s Prussians then Goldies in distance.

Prussian Cavalry facing the Spanish Mob!

Prussians have beaten the Spanish to the central village.

On Allied left Alan beats the Prussians to Church.

Very orderly Spanish lines!

Flanks…flanks…flanks….Dave gets pointy stick cavalry into a Dutch flank.

Dave’s advance down his right flank.

Prussian attack through the center continues.

Spanish blunted Prussian advance……..

Spanish guerillas are very annoying I was getting informed!

Oops…Alans used his cavalry effectively to force Dave’s attack back…..

Oh dear…another unit of pointy stick cavalry found flanks…again……..sadly the combined attack with the infantry column did not net the victory expected….dice are so unpredictable!!

The village changed sides several times…sucking units in….very historical. Hanoverians have it below.

Prussians take it back.

And that was that……both sides ground out a draw…..

Ladz will come down again next month for another game.

The whisky of the week is the Glenturret 12.

On my pilgrimage to Whisky Galore, I tasted this one and was brow beat into submission to buy one(it really wasn’t that hard a task to be honest).

Tasting Notes;

Nose Oily barley and toasted nuts mingle with sweet raisins, a whiff of malt loaf, and vanilla cream.

Palate Warming ginger, juicy sultanas with dustings of cinnamon, spiced apple crumble and zesty oak.

Finish Toasty oak char, dry cakey spice with a silky, creamy texture.

For a 12 year old it is remarkably good value and certainly one of best I have tasted in a while.

Until next time….Terry out.

August 2024 – Napoleonic Game – Liebertwolkwitz 1813

Posted on by
Reply

Sorry for delay in posting… Technical issues between laptop and phone which now seem to be sorted.

I recently visited friend Pete https://vonpeterhimself.wordpress.com/ and he lent me a couple of books on Leipzig 1813. One was ‘Lets Fight Leipzig!’ by Steve Shann which can be obtained from Caliver Books https://www.caliverbooks.com/ a long-time favoured source of Books and Figures for many of us down under.

I have gone and ordered the book and decided to play all 12 scenarios in the book. Thankfully the ladz seem keen so we kicked off with ”Cavalry Batte at Liebertwolkwitz’.

This battle is a meeting engagement between cavalry forces with some batteries. Both sides have 4 cavalry formations with the French also having a ‘Grand battery’ of 2 batteries on table. The game was played down the table with starting forces and then reinforcements entered on the table ends/sides as the game progressed.

The French were commanded with Murat who had special orders to represent his behaviour on the actual day of the battle…a Blackpowder ‘Follow me’ exponent to warm the wee cockles of my heart. Murats Special Orders were at the start of each French Turn, on a roll on a d6 of 1 or 2, he would join the closest regiment able to charge…and declare a charge on the closest Allied unit with it. He would stay with that unit underway combat resolution had occurred. In addition a successful charge by any other French commander would result in 2 d6 being rolled, on a 1 they lose the bonus for charging that move.

Starting French force……Rob and Robert played the French, Goldie, Alan and Keith were the Allies. Steve T and I were sampling a whisky below.

Close up.. Rob’s French cavalry are stunning.

Couple of turns on and the French Dragoons are approaching the Russians.

Russian Hussars take on French Dragoons.

Oh dear…….

Russian Hussars have routed 2 French and reformed facing them again.

Prussians join in with Dragoons charging French Dragoons and being supported by Cuirassiers. The skulking Cossacks then joined the conflict in the French flank!

Another view..

Prussian Dragoons and Cossacks won the combat…French retired and the Prussian swept on into another unit. The Cossacks swept in behind in support.

Meanwhile on the other flank, Robert through his light cavalry into the Cuirassier’s, who took artillery fire as they charged past the horse battery on the hill. The Horse battery was then charged in the flank by another light cavalry unit…and popped.

The cavalry having defeated the Artillery swept into the main combat, now in the flank of the Cuirassiers. Well planned attack.

Goldie had stolen Alans dice and was rolling ridiculously high dice…..the French lost the combat…and the Cuirassiers swept into the small supporting unit.

Elsewhere, more combat.

And more…..

The Prussian Dragoons were still making charges…..

French reserves pour onto the battlefield.

Even some Polish arrived!

The Austrians arrived and some Russian Uhlans…..

Alan through his Cuirassiers straight into French Dragoons…..

And a large unit Chevau-Legers into Dragoons……

The Austrian Cuirassiers chewed up 1 regt of Dragoons and sweep into another…..

The dice below show the newly arrived Austrians losing combat and rolling 1s…so they left the table in disgrace.

Pointy stick French and Austrians at it… Austrians winning.

The Polish Uhlans and the Russian Uhlans charged each other…below their commanders are looking for them. It was mutual extinction.

Well…that was fun….be most charges we have had in a Thursday night game for a while if not ever. Great fun. The Allies get the win.

Now I have just had a 65th birthday and a number of Whisky’s have come my way. Below is a GlenAllachie 12 which my partner particularly liked so we procured it.

Tasting Notes:

TASTING NOTES 

COLOUR – Polished Bronze. 

NOSE – Butterscotch and honey playing the lead, with raisins and mocha in the background. 

TASTE – Honey, marzipan and bananas, with lashings of butterscotch, raisins and a delicate hint of mocha. 

In other words….itsis very drinkable.

Until next time…Terry out.

July 2024 – Pike n Shotte Game

Posted on by
Reply

It’s been a while since we tried ‘Pike n Shotte’ so the crew decided to give it a whirl again. Since the last game, Alan has sold his painted and unpainted troops to Stephen and replaced them with Epic ‘Pike n Shotte’. Keith has also rebased his ‘Pike n Shotte’ army from one of those ‘DXXX’ rulesets and is fielding them for the first time(very pretty they are btw). So troops for this game are provided by Stephen, Keith and Russ.

Set up.

Other side!

Very colourful wee Jocks.

Nice pink flowers.

Russ has gone for ‘Warhammer style flags. I like it.

In true period fashion…the cavalry in the flanks go at it from the start.

The ‘Brains’ trust! From left to right we gave Keith, Stephen. Grajam, Russ and Steven tucked in behind. Goldie(the polished head) is on the other side and Rob is hidden somewhere as well!

The Swedish side of the table fared worse in the cavalry encounters.

Keith’s rebased cavalry performed exceptionally well!

In a fashion worthy of elevation to ranks of ‘Heroic’ a unit of hand gunners held off the charging Pike block for round after round of combat while both sides shot away at each other.

After disposing of the Swedish cavalry on this flank, Goldie sends his cavalry into the melee as well.

On the other flank the Coventers are hard at it with the ‘Scots’ …. Keith’s cavalry is now rolling down the Swedish line.

So that was a fun, loud game!

We will try again in 2 weeks… perhaps balancing the sides up a bit more evenly next time.

Until that report…

Terry out.

July 2024 – Hobby Update

Posted on by
Reply

Its been a while since a Hobbying update….so here is a short one.

The past year has been the addition of a new period and some much needed love to some others.

First up is following the long awaited release of the Perry Miniatures Franco Prussian 1870 range which I recall begging them for over a beer and curry while they were in NZ in the early 2000’s……the range has come out. So far there are not many options in the range, but I have started with 2 regiments of 3 battalions each and 4 La Hitte artillery pieces. Sitting on the paint table at the moment is a Mitraillause and unit of Hussars(which will be 8 horse/riders due to cost and postage!)

Way back in 2008 I started a C10th Byzantine army using Gripping Beast figures and LBM Decals. Until the past year it did not get much love but have now added more infantry, skirmishers and a unit of Kataphracts. More cavalry to follow and with Victrix having them in the list for new plastics in the new range they are releasing, I can afford to build the army up. Buying Gripping Beast figures from NZ is just $$ prohibitive. The Gripping Beast plastic Rus unit is made up from several of the plastic GB boxes..the poses don’t rank up very well at all.

Warlord’s ‘Victory at Sea’ and in particular the IJN Fleet received some more love…rules for carrier aircraft combat are still a struggle…but these received some more love…with more still required.

And finally… trees…yes trees…..considering the number of ACW games we game…I decided to invest in and base up some nice looking trees!

So that is some of the painting effort for past year….most of my periods received love from time to time…the Pyrrhic Army has had some rebasing, touching up and some additions. Both the ACW Union and Confederate armies have had more command stands and regiments added….. thanks to Keith the kitsets for my Bolt Action 1944 Germans are now assembled as is the ordinance battery for my Pike n Shotte army painted(nothing else is…but..I am classing that as a start!).

And…somehow…friend Weakley persuaded me collecting Epic Waterloo was a good idea…I really need to stop listening to him….so I am working on French. Thankfully Alan is well ahead of me(as ever) and has finished Prussians, is printing and painting Austrians and has loaned me his French to copy paint scheme…so will have an opponent while Weakley is away!

Til Next time… Terry Out.

June 2024 Franco Prussian War 1870 Game 2 for June!

Posted on by
3

Goldie and I squeezed another game in before the end of the month.

This was another practice with same sized forces and testing the subtle changes we have been making to standard Black Powder rules. This game we introduced no supports in combat…on the basis in reality the units are basically in a skirmish formation…so should not be supported.

The terrain had the French deployed south of the central road.

I was French and Goldie Prussian as usual with all brigades being 4 bttns…..the Prussian 4 bases and the French 3 bases. All units had 4 shots, the Prussian had 8 attacks in hand to hand ,the French 6. Commanders are all rated as 8s.

My left flank brigade based around a farmhouse with a mitrailleuse skulking behind the orchard and light infantry in the wood. Goldie has advanced a brigade opposite me. The Prussian artillery(4 guns) Goldie placed centrally…but they refused to move……a great start for me!

My Central brigade deployed between/on 2 low hills with my battery in the hollow.

My right flank brigade deployed on low ridge/trees.

Goldie advances his left flank brigade to take the farmhouse. I was perfectly happy to let him have it…he can only shoot 12 inches…I shoot 24 inches…his artillery is not on this flank so I was going to stay outside of his shooting range and inflict casualties.

The Prussians were a bit tardy at advancing so I was able to concentrate fire on the exposed advance bttn.

Prussian right flank brigade advances into a wall of fire. He may have large units and stamina 4…but I have 4 shots per unit……

The Prussian artillery finally obeyed orders and advances…but artillery cannot shoot on turn moves……which gave my brigade in the open an opportunity to retire…..fools didn’t…..

Over on my right I advanced to get into shooting range…..I obviously needed a whisky…as why did I leave that unit side on?

My Centre…trying to scurry for cover as the Prussian artillery unlimbers…..but look at that tempting line in front of us!

French light infantry in the woods.. I decided to sacrifice them to the guns… while I inflicted as many casualties as possible on the Prussian infantry to their flanks before I headed for cover!

On my left flank the tardy unit that had been skulking behind the Farmhouse finally moved onto the hill to start firing!

Phew….Goldie sent a unit to charge my poorly positioned flanking unit…but he did not make it in.

The flank chaps have disordered unit to their front…good boys! Ladz in the farmhouse however are disordered and taking casualties.

The Mitrailleuse had made several rounds of firing for minimal return…then they did this…all is forgiven!

Goldies right flank is looking a wee bit sad….shaken and disordered units abound! In his defence…..I don’t think I have ever rolled so many 6’s for shooting before.

There were 2 units beside the farmhouse…now 1 and it is shaken.

Goldie’s failed flank charge leaves this unit facing a battery and 12 shoots in my turn…a disorder and 2 casualties is a poor return!

In they come. Goldie throws his reserve brigade into the attack in the centre.

Sigh…after its last round of shooting….it misfires and can’t shoot again.

C’est la vie!

Prussian unit lost the combat and retires shaken/disordered…. another is disordered with 3 casualties. I have a unit positioned for flank attack.

Where the game is to be decided…Goldie need to break through before I can turn his flank.

Charge on my guns…guns pop…..but the charger is now disordered……

My flank attack destroyed a unit, another has lost its combat and Goldie’s attacking brigade is now broken.

On my left…Goldies right flank brigade is broken….

On my right flank…Goldie’s brigade here is also broken.

So that was a comprehensive French victory!

But I need to put a caveat on this as several events resulted in the ease of the victory. Goldies artillery was set up where it could not control the battlefield….. the turn one blunder and non-movement then accentuated that. Then my firing was awesome with way above average numbers of 6’s being rolled all game thus pinning Goldie’s bttns outside their shooting range and allowing me extra turns to pile shots into them.

Hopefully for the next game Alan will be available and we can have a larger game…and one day the Perrys may even paint some command figures for us!! Some French cavalry is on the painting table so will be fun to add them to games…but then I am verryyy slow at painting ….. so could be a while!

Until next time……

June 2024 – Napoleonic Game: Austrian’s v French

Posted on by
Reply

The 2nd game in June was a 4 player French v Austrian Napoleonic one.

I set the table up with 2 small French forces each of an infantry brigade with 6 foot bttns, 1 battery and an attached small cavalry brigade of 2 light cavalry regiments each encamped around farms. Rob and Robert were the French players.

The terrain had 4 roads entering the table, 1 from each side of the table. The 2 Austrian players would roll to see which road they would march on down. Alan and Stephen were the Austrian players. Stephen had an Avante Garde brigade with 3 standard size bttns, a Grenz unit, light battery and 2 Hussar regiments. Alan had an Avante Garde brigade with 3 large infantry bttns, a Jager bttn, light battery and 2 Hussar regiments.

French deployments are below with Rob then Roberts deployments.

Alan arrives on the North Road.

Stephen arrived on the East Road which put him between the 2 French forces! Alan can be seen deployed on the North Road.

Robert has garrisoned his farm with a bttn and moved the rest of his force North to meet with Alan. 2 of Stephens bttns and the battery are tasked with taking the farm.

The rest of Stephens force are tasked with holding Rob off and awaiting reinforcements. Austrian Hussars have charged a French bttn, who formed square, the Hussars then retiring and the skirmishing Grenz have advanced to clsoe range to shoot them up…the Hussars staying within 12 inches which pins the square…and the Grenz close enough to them that the French cavalry cannot charge the Grenz.

Alan deploys to face Robert’s approach.

OMG! Robert charged straight in…Alan rolled APPALLINGLY badly … a theme that would continue all game….even a change of dice did not help.

Rubbing salt into the wound Robert sent lancers into the flank of Alans last bttn after disposing of his cavalry.

Down south Rob is deploying to face Stephen …Rob was unable to get his 2 bttns south of the village to move…lucky break for the Austrians.

Fortunately for Alan his reserve formation of 5 large bttns and a battery now advanced on to the table over the remains of the Avante Garde brigade.

Stephen had his reserve of a Grenadier brigade march onto the table,,.. so I personally took control of the French reinforcements of 6 bttns and a battery who rolled to arrive on the South Road. I decided to move them to a central position and support both Robert and Rob as necessary.

Hmmm…..Alan has charged Robert…then deployed a bttn in line…masking his guns…….

The reserve Austrian Grenadiers advancing…lovely metal Front Rank figures….ladz were telling me current Figures purchased from the new providers of Front Rank metals are not great(okay…I have toned down the comment ….with the cost of postage to this neck of the world you want a decent casting!). 3D printer anyone………

My brigade continues to advance…..good shooting from the attack columns shakes the Hussars who moved to attempt a block.

Alan, if he lives is now being transferred to an Austrian Village on the Turkish borderlands…..he lost the combat….both the attacking unit and support decided to head home…..his unit in line fluffed its shooting and is soon to be heading home as well.

The stalemate between Rob and Stephen continues in the South.

Soo we called the game at that stage…Robert has cleaned out both Alans brigades….he was quite damaged…but still operational…he was holding Stephen off in his farm, it was a stalemate in the South but there were sufficient French on the table to force Stephen to retire.

A French win was called. Robert’s very aggressive attack coupled with Alans real bad dice rolls made for an interesting encounter.

Til next time…..

June 2024 – Franco Prussian 1870 War battle

Posted on by
Reply

I didn’t have a game planned last week but Goldie is away this week so we quickly decided to have a Franco Prussian Bash.

We played down a 6 foot by 10 foot table which I prettied up more than normal. Goldie won roll off for starting sides and who went first.

So Goldie was using Prussian’s with 3 brigades of 4 battalions and a 4 gun massed artillery battery. My French had 3 brigades of 4 battalions. Two of them had an artillery piece each while the 3rd had a Mitrailleuse.

Each game we are ‘tweaking’ the armies slightly as we have more games with them so they ‘feel’ more like we believe they should perform. For this game we tweaked the French rifles to have 3 shots, and reroll 1 miss. This was to reflect the French chassepots rate of fire being higher then the Prussian rifles.

Below first French brigade marches down a road.

Goldie has an infantry brigade and his 4 gun battery deployed. Only 2 of the guns can shoot…they are deployed below a low hill. The ruins in the center are rough ground and like the woods, only infantry can enter it and move at half pace. The hedges and walls give a +1 save from rifle fire when behind them and woods give the standard rules(-1 to hit target in woods and -1 to hit target in woods) The villages are defensive zones that can take one battalion each.

Another French brigade and …it slowly advances to their left.

The forward French brigade…slowly advances….Prussians can be seen.

Goldie has moved a brigade up on his left….French have advanced to a low rise to their front. A dumb thing to do on reflection…my advantage is a longer rifle range…and not being caught in the open…I should have stayed back behind the hedge on other side of the rise!

The Prussian are not only well painted…but in mass look quite imposing.

Goldie moved the 2 guns that could not fire over the rise and deployed….to be greeted by 3 shots from an infantry battalion…along with artillery fire. They popped! Prussian guns are scary…if kept out of the 24 inch range of the French infantry that is.

And then there were 3. It had taken several turns for the right flank Prussian brigade to move forward…here they are advancing through woods. Another brigade can be seen advancing through the ruins.

Prussian center brigade advancing…slowly through the ruins….French behind hedge to their front.

Eventually my left flank brigade made it into the village and then the stone wall to the front. Again…close up shooting against Prussians is not advisable as they get 4 shots a turn and have stamina 4 being larger battalions. What I should have done is let Goldie have the village and sit behind the southern stone wall!

Goldie throws a battalion into the village.

On the other side of the table my attempts to get a 3rd battalion to join the 2 battalions on the low rise was met by 2 turns of blunders.. backwards….. So I was forced to grab the light infantry battalion of 3rd brigade and rush them up to protect right flank.

Massed Prussians look great.

The game was now a shooting one apart from the one combat in the village.

A shaken French unit holding on.

The village is lost. We agreed we need to revisit village combat as Prussians took it to easily as the Black Powder rules are not great to this type of combat. The Prussians had 9 attacks(8 for unit and 1 for commander) v French with…2. They also get to add supports in the combat resolution while French add +3…..normally its okay as most units have 6 attacks…but these big units have 8 and has moved balance. We will think on it!

Aerial view of the village and surrounds. French have 1 unit destroyed, 1 shaken and 2 carrying 2 casualties each….so they are gone burger shortly. The Mitrailleuse wasn’t doing much either!

The other side of table and 3 of the 4 Prussian guns are destroyed……I have a second line but is pretty obvious the French day is done and need to retire.

Far right…holding on……just….

So that was fun. I made more of an effort on the terrain so looked pretty. We need to think about village combat and Goldie needs to keep his guns out of range and I need to not get so close to him before I am shooting!

Til next time, Terry out.

May 2024 Napoleonic Game – 1813ish

Posted on by
Reply

Played a 4 player game at Hutt Valley Club with French v Russo/Prussians.

I organized the sides to be roughly equal on numbers as a new player, David was having his second game of Black Powder. Sadly David had some problems on his farm and couldn’t make it on the day. So rather than assist David, I filled in on the French side with Rob, Goldie had his Prussians and Mike was playing Russians for I believe the first time.

The Allied set up on North side of a stream, they had a couple of villages and some field fortifications to hide behind. Below is some of the Russian set up.

View down the table. Rob commanded the French right and in view of Goldies Prussian being mainly Landwehr suggested the plan was Rob attacks and I hold the Russians attention.

So Rob attacked on turn 1. Not quite what I had in mind, but, Go Rob!

I did a more sedate skirmishing advance on a village.

Hmmm….so Robs attack was an initial draw coupled with some extinction events on both sides, but Rob eventually did the deed on the landwehr. French heavies move up in support.

View from Mikes side towards my French.

I tried to get a skirmish line up to close range on the Jager…also skirmishing..to avoid the Russian artillery doing to much damage on me…it failed.

Cavalry attacks going in. Its looking good for Rob at this stage!

Missing Prussian units…others damaged……but heavies have taken punishment.

Back on other flank…French skirmish screen has taken a battering …so columns have burst through them to charge and drive off the skirmishing Jager and then carry on into the columns behind them…only…we didn’t make it…and instead decided to be target practice for Russian batteries. Being the gentleman I am(well..sometimes) I helped Rob with advice on how to beat up my French(I never play French…normally Russian..or Austrian…even Dutch before French!)

At same time the columns were meant to be engaging Russian infantry…behind this battery was a brigade of light cavalry…who were meant to charge the battery in the distance…..die in the attempt…allowing the now unloaded battery to be ridden down by the next French cavalry unit…..sadly…..no one wanted to … and rolls and re rolls just failed…and failed….and…..I need a drink….

In centre…. it was shooting..and shooting…..

View of other occupied village… a tough nut to crack frontally hence Rob’s flanking movement. Goldie has Dragoons and horse battery stationed in reserve in center.

Robs attack stalled as his cavalry commander blundered and retired…..the horse battery got shot up and popped…..and attacks could just not get going……its one of those days….

Russian horse battery has now deployed so the plan of charging the foot battery is now over and with the damage was taking…I decided to retire from the field.

In center…French skirmishers finally managed to get moving and stormed across stream to enfilade the defending troops on the field fortifications…with supporting columns to retire behind if needed,,,and brigade of heavies ready to assist. But its all to late…..

The Rob v Goldie duel and Rob has just taken to much damage to push Goldie back.

So we called it an Allied victory as they still held the villages…and looked to have a superior position overall.

Now when we visited Christchurch recently, my better half got all carried away and bought a bottle of whisky for me. She liked the name…no other reason….how can you resist buying a bottle of ‘Firkin Whisky;…just say it a few times after a tasting….it grows on you.

Found a review : ‘They say quality counts, and this dram has our number! This is a seriously sensational whisky. The elegance of Linkwood, one of Speyside’s finest, marries perfectly with the glorious earthy oak and Madeira richness & raisin spice. Brilliantly rich and fruity notes complement the hint of toasty oak with exceptional balance. This dram lingers like a summer lover, complete with a lovely tingle of spicy oak.’

Its a darn good whisky is all I can say .

Til next time.. Terry out.