Category Archives: Franco-Prussian War

November 2025 – Black Powder Franco Prussian Game No # 2

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After the First FPW game of the month, Goldie and I chatted about weapons and the rules and made a change to reduce the impact of the artillery. We reduced them from 2 shots too 1shoot, the Prussians to 60 inch range and the French to 48 inch range. For the Mitrailleuse we took off the -2 on morale saves as at times they are WAY to effective!

So Alan and Goldie were the bad guys(Prusso/Bavarians) while Keith, Robert and I were French. Below my troops on left and Roberts on right. We were the left flank and center of French line.

Prussian left flank with Goldie advancing on village v Keith.

Alan had right of Prussian line.

Goldie took position of the village before Keith…….not good for Keith.

As this allowed Goldie to extend rapidly to his flank.

Goldies force pours around village.

On the other flank its was more…sedate, as I failed to move 3 turns in a row…and Alan wasn’t much better!

Where as Keith was knee deep in it……newly painted Garde Mobile making an appearance.

Goldie attacking the pivot point on Keith’s flank.

While Goldie sent a large force around the left of the village…he also sent a strong force around the right side……

Hmmmm…. some good French shooting and a few gaps appear.

Keith is being overwhelmed on his right flank.

The French left and center…..I have managed to move and am dishing out damage. Beside me in the center Robert outnumbers the Prusso/Bavarians facing him but is not making any headway.

Keith has thrown reserves in to try and hold the line.

And for a first……French Cuirassiers made a charge against disordered infantry…WON THE COMBAT…..but the Prussians passed morale and the Cuirassiers retired…a pivotal point…..had the Prussians popped…a lot of Prussian units were within 6 inches and would have been facing morale tests.

Back in the center…shooting war continued.

The retired disordered French Cuirassiers are facing the advancing Prussians…the French line has collapsed…..

Prussian Uhlans charge the disordered French Cuirassiers(which means they cannot counter charge).

Prussian Dragoons charge into the French Chasseurs.

The French Cavalry is destroyed and the Uhlans sweep into the flank of a line bttn. Goldie’s flanking force is pouring in behind them.

Over on my side….I am slowly pushing Alan back.

And that was that….comprehensive Prussian Victory! Goldies rapid move into Keith’s center(Village) and flank coupled with poor movement dice for Keith meant he was in trouble quickly. Robert held his own in the center and my failure to not move for 3 turns meant I could not put pressure on Alan enough to allow Robert to shift troops to assist Keith.

Was best FPW game yet……the added cavalry and Garde Mobile units are allowing more options as we fine tune the rules.

So onto a Whisky review.

Now I recently had dinner with some of my former staff from my Chevron days who were in Wellington to visit an ill former colleague of ours, so we met for dinner. Imagine my surprise when I was gifted a Dalmore 18 as a late birthday present!

Looking up reviews they say:

Nose: Fruity and spicy with notes of vanilla, orange zest and potpourri, marmalade and sweet milk chocolate. A touch of leather and sultana.

Palate: A delicious fireside dram with notes of chocolate raisins, juicy citrus, stewed fruits, old sherry and pepper.

Finish: A long, fruity finish ending on almond, buttery toffee apples and cocoa.

Which is telling us this whisky is meant to taste like a Chocolate Orange! And it did….quite different to my normal drinking styles…..but VERY PLEASANT!

Until next time, Terry out.

November 2025 – Black Powder Franco-Prussian Game

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We played a FPW game as it had been a while.

Alan and Goldie were the Prusso/Bavarians and Keith/Stephen the French. I was on drinks duty.

Goldie had 2 Prussian brigades and a 4 gun battery. His left flank brigade below.

Goldies centre left brigade, guns to the right of picture.

Alans Bavarian horde……he had the cavalry as well.

Keith also had 2 brigades plus Frech artillery reserve…and some cavalry. He is on French right.

Stevens French of 2 brigades plus a gun and machine gun.

French legere in the ruins centre of table.

Bavarian horde…all prints of Alans.

Goldies centre brigade moves up through the woods.

Another view of Alans horde.

There were 2 villages…on French left flank of table and one in centre right…which is one below. Keith is in possession, however Goldie has attacked and got into the village.

Alan has attacked the village on his side as well.

A unit supporting the flank of Goldie assault on the village fell foul of infantry fire…3 batteries and a mitrailleuse…..as you would expect they ‘evaporated’.

Alans assault in village failed and he bounced back.

Over on other flank, after a slow start Goldie had a rapid charge up……..

As you can see from gap below…it did not go very well.

So, in village below… Goldie got in….so 8 attacks v French 6…he lost…..

Alan charges into village to his front again…..

The French legere in woods were still holding on at end of game….had 2 units to its rare for when they eventually popped!

Last picture…was a lot going on at this stage…and I just forgot to take pictures…BAD ME!

So, at games end, Goldies flank brigade was almost if not broken…Stephen’s right hand brigade was 1 casualty away from breaking…so a fun game…normally slug fest for this period. As to which side won…..they can debate that amongst themselves!

Until next time… Terry out.

Jan 2025- FrancoPrussian War Game

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Due to bouts of ill health and to much work I have not been able to post for a while…..so a few to catch up with.

This week we played a FPW game. Keith had added 3 more bttns of French and I added a mitrailleuse to the French forces.

We as usual played Black Powder rules with the following period adjustments:

  • Prussian infantry shoot 12 inches and have 4 shoots with stamina 4 with 8 attacks.
  • French infantry shoot 24 inches, have 3 shoots, a first fire bonus and stamina 3 with 6 attacks.
  • French Zouaves/Turco’s reroll misses in first round of any combat
  • All artillery are 2 shoot howitzers. Prussians shoot 60 inches, French 48 inches(all hits -2 on save). Prussian artillery is grouped in combined batteries with a separate commander.
  • Mitrailleuse shoot 24 inches, 2 shoots, any dice 4+ rolls again. Target has -2 save.
  • Any units charging take shooting for each 12 inches of the charge

So for the French side Keith was on the left v Alan, and Me(Terry) on the right v Goldie. Each player had 2 brigades(5 to 7 bttns in each). The Prussians had the advantage in artillery(even when the French used some reserve artillery!)

Below French right where Goldie is sending a brigade down his flank at full speed!

In center more Prussians advance on hamlet, mitrailleuse hiding from artillery behind building.

Keith’s first brigade hiding behind wall…hamlet and small hill. You can see 5 batteries looking at him from Prussian ridgeline(there were 2 more to their left). Alan is rushing a brigade at the hamlet.

Keith’s left flank brigade where another brigade is advancing on the wood and Prussian artillery has his flank bttn well and truly in their sights.

More scenic view of that flank.

Back on French right…a French bttn is moved to block the Prussian flank advance. Disordered and 1 casualty so far.

In center the mitrailleuse has moved to confront the advancing Prussians. They are close enough that the Prussian artillery can no longer target them. You have to hide from them! This piece managed to inflict 2 casualties 3 turns running before being destroyed. They are such fun, in the right place!

On French left and the flank bttn is destroyed….2 Prussian batteries fire 4 shots a turn, hitting on 4s and target can only save on a 6. So any unit in the open is going to quickly be destroyed to average shooting, let alone above average die rolls! Prussians are assaulting the wood…it did not go well for them.

Back on French right and I moved 3 Zouave units to bolster defence ….. plan was to shoot up and then charge in and turn flank…..no plan really makes it past first contact does it!!

In center Prussians are losing units, the mitrailleuse has been destroyed after doing its bit….out of picture on French left are 3 bttns shooting at 24 inches and holding off the Prussian advance… Keith moved his reserve mitrailleuse into that side as well.

Alans attack on the Prussian right has been pushed back. He then re oriented his attack to support Goldie in the centre.

Back in the centre…..the Prussian gun line on the ridge had a less than average day with shooting…which really helped the French defence. When it did go well…we lost a bttn at a time. Bottom right there are Zoauves fighting Prussians. Previous French turn they charged the flank of the Prussians… 6 attacks.. reroll misses…managed 2 casualties only on Prussians… good saving throws by Goldie….the Prussians held….the target was just to tempting…I should have just put another 9 shots onto them and not charged! But wheres the fun in that!!

Game end… Prussians are still attacking hedge line in centre……but I feel French would have held……French left was a bit shot up…but Alan lacked troops to push through.

French right and I am one shooting round away from breaking this brigade(well average dice at least needed!).. then would push Zouaves around flank

So that was a fun game…..decided was a fighting draw for both sides. I think we have the rules sorted now. The deciding factor in each game now really hinges on how good or bad the Prussian artillery goes…how well the French are at hiding their forces from the Prussian guns… and how good or bad the mitrailleuse go.

Until next time.. Terry out.

July 2024 – Hobby Update

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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!

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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 – Franco Prussian 1870 War battle

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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.

March 2024 – Franco Prussian battle

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Played another Franco-Prussian game with Alan and Goldie to carry on our journey of finding rules that work for us with Franco-Prussian War.

This time Goldie proposed scenario as below.

Scale:

Gravelotte-St Privat was the largest and decisive battle of the Franco-Prussian War.

The French army under Bazaine had adopted a position magnifique to defend from, sitting on a low ridge with wide open fields in front of them. Von Moltke’s plan was to pin the French army down with spoiling attacks in the south and centre but outflank the French to the north with the Guards and XII Saxon Korps. This would swing through the supposedly deserted village of Saint Privat.

Except St Privat was held in strength by Canrobert’s VI Corps, who were waiting for the advancing Prussian masses.

Fought on a 6’ by 9’ table. French deploy 30” in. Prussian Guards move on the right, Saxons on the left. The terrain is flat and open, with two sprawling villages and a few small woods.

Alan was the Prussian Guard, Goldie the Saxons and I was the Glorious French!

The map below was the terrain with the French setting up on the right extending from Roncourt south through Saint-Privat.

The Rules for the game are Black Powder with the following house rules.

So below we have the start of game on French right flank. I have placed 2 regts on the edge of board, 2 more in the town, the mitrailleuse is hiding behind village with the artillery in right rear of village. Goldies Saxons are moving on.


In French Centre right 4 regts are in the village, Mitrailleuse is hiding on road in village with a battery out back and another division to their left.

Otr on right Saxons have rushed up to shooting range….and they got shot up!

Prussian Guard Corps where several blunders occurred halting Alans attempts at a combined advance, which allowed the French to concentrate shooting on his units on table.

First blood to the French…the Mitrailleuse was shooting from behind village, out of sight of the Saxon artillery…which combined with the artillery and infantry shooting from the village and troops on the table edge, destroyed a unit. The Mitrailleuse had 2 rounds of superb firing…then…..fluffed it for rest of the game!

Mitrailleuse moved into open…managed to survive the incoming artillery fire…and combined with infantry fire destroyed another regiment, this time Guards.

With Alans blunder problems I moved 2 regts out to my left flank to take advantage of my 24 inch v 12 inch firing range…..accepting Alan might get some good results from his batteries…but needed to get some damage in before he could advance his troops.

Saxons advance on the village.

So much for tempting fate of the Guard artillery…disordered and 3 wounds.

First line of Saxons destroyed but am now taking hits.

Hmm……4 batteries and a couple rounds of shooting and unit in this part of village is no longer around….stamina is 3 so was 5 hits over and disordered….so -5 on dice roll…the survivors are heading for Spain.

Guard division with the rear 2 units having retired from shooting. However that means 2 fresh units in the front!

The 2 French regts I was holding in reserve behind the centre have moved across to vacated buildings in Roncourt.

Hmm 2 more of my units are shaken…..

Hmm…..both my right division and one of Goldie’s Saxon divisions have passed break stage and been removed.

Game end….we called it a draw….there were not many infantry units looking that healthy.

Same on other side of table…..

Well… that was an interesting game……we played Prussians artillery as 2 shots at long range……as opposed to Scenario plan…which I believe is correct way to do it. We will replay this but bring in ability of troops to lie done…its what they did…see how that works out. I did some amazing saves from incoming Prussian artillery hits at the start of game, which coupled with the blunders for them moving on, allowed the French to get some casualties in.

I am still not in favour of stipulating we follow the tactics employed by the armies at the time, after all.. the French LOST…so expect I will continue to disagree until I get my way.

Until next time….

January 2024 – First Game of the Year, Franco-Prussian

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So its welcome to 2024 and the first game of the year.

Alan hosted a Franco Prussian Game at his place which 6 of us were available for. Both Alan and Goldie have collected Prussians while Goldie and I have collected French. While I continue to paint as slow as ever, the French are a bit short on units so again ACW units are subbed in.

Once again the rules used are ‘Black Powder’ plus the ACW ‘Hallelujah’ supplement. We are still tinkering with shooting and ranges so these were the adjustments used for this game:

  • Artillery shoots 48 inches
  • Prussian artillery have no long range penalty
  • French rifles/Mitrailleuse weapons shoot 24 inches
  • Prussian rifles shoot 12 inches
  • French are 3 base battalions and Prussians are 4 base battalions

From memory the number of battalions per side were evenish…but the Prussians were at least 2:1 in artillery(I am painting my 5 guns up now!).

Below is the centre of table where both sides are in possession of a building. Alan on one of his business trips to China spotted some display clothes in a shop , purchased 4 of them, has had them sewn together and now has quite a good terrain base cloth!

French firing line anchored on building…Prussian artillery in distance and troops in wood.

Prussian advance on their left flank……

The nasty Krupps.

French attack into flank of a Prussian line…..French fluffed attacks…took several turns but larger Prussian units attacking them on 2 sides eventually destroyed them.

French left flank…….avoiding the Krupp’s but giving up the longer rifle range.

Massed Prussians preparing to attack across the river.

Across they are….a mitrailleuse was hiding behind the building so artillery could not get it, and firing off against the Prussians advancing on the table edge…so a Prussian unit charged from other side and took it out….French commander has been taken away…….

French centre was quite well protected with 2 defensive zones and good firing zones.

The gap in Prussian lines is from a blown away battalion. It took A LOTOF SHOOTING TO DO THAT.

I tried using a twinkling light feature on phone camera…didn’t work that well.

French used old fashioned lines and swapped units to recover casualties…. as you should!

End of game…..Prussians take the building by charging in on 2 sides. French 2nd line was supporting but you need lots of hits to cause casualties…and artillery!

So that was first FP game for year. Was fun. We will need to work on the shooting as I still think its now quite right. Hopefully the Perrys will give us some more love in this period this year so we can flesh the armies out.

Now at Xmas I was given some love with 3 new bottles of Whisky!

The first to be reviewed is a gift from friend PW who was back from Vanuatu.

This is from Glenmorangie and it is ‘A tale of Winter’.

The bottling note for it is:

Following on from Glenmorangie’s A Tale of Cake, the magnificent distillery has gone and created Glenmorangie A Tale of Winter (we do like the idea that “cake” is in fact a season and that it precedes winter, but we don’t think that’s what they’re going for here)! Director of whisky creation Dr. Bill Lumsden wanted to evoke the feeling of winter, of sitting in front of a fireplace while the snow fall outside, and to do so, he finished a bourbon barrel-matured single malt in ex-Marsala wine casks. All those rich, comforting, chocolatey notes certainly put this one in the ‘winter warmer’ category.

Tasting notes are:

Nose Honeycomb, chocolate digestives, fragrant lavender, sultana, and cinnamon.

Palate Cocoa, Brazil nuts, vanilla tablet, jammy red berry sweetness developing, crystallised ginger.

Finish Spicy ginger remains, mellowed by vanilla and chocolate mousse.

Now I had a bottle of ‘ A Tale of Cake’ a year or 3 ago, and PW went a bought one as was so delicious. This one I have been enjoying almost as much.

Recommended.

Until next time…Terry out.

August 23 Franco-Prussian War – Game # 1

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It’s been 20 years since a group of us had a Chinese meal with the Perrys in Wellington while they were here for ‘Lord of the Rings’ activities. I asked them then if they would ever do FPW…and they have….so Goldie and I are finally having our first game with their figures.

So figures are Perry Miniatures.

THANK YOU LADZ!

Now Goldie had already painted a force of Prussians, and he has added enough French which when we add ACW Zouaves we can have a game.(my French are underway but not ready).

Each side is fielding 2 Brigades of 6 infantry with the Prussians also fielding a regt of 4 artillery batteries. The French have 2 batteries of 4 pdrs with one attached to each brigade and a mitralleuse which is attached to the Zouave brigade(5 Zouaves and a light infantry).

The terrain has the French defending a farm complex and a wooded ridge and there are 3 woods and some hedges scattered around the table, The French are defending the ridge/farm house side of the table.

Goldies right side brigade which is regts of 3. The Division commander is attached to the brigade. Regts are 3 bttns, each of bases with 5 or 6 figures to a base.

Close up of Prussians.

Goldies newly painted French which are in regts of 3 bttns, with bases of 5 or 6 figures per base.

View down the line. The beautiful flags Goldie picked up from ‘The Flag Dude’ at this year’s Salute Show while holidaying in London.

The French left brigade with subbed in ACW infantry with a French la Hitte artillery battery.

A regt of the dreaded Prussian Krupp artillery opposite the farmhouse. I was very happy they were there… and not facing my infantry in the open.

Goldie has advanced one regt into the protection of the hedges while the second is in behind the wood.

View of French right flank. Prussian artillery in top left gets 2 shots a battery and has a range of 60 inches. But only target is the buildings where 1 bttn is sheltering! There is a French battery with a 48 inch range, also shooting 2 shoots skulking hidden from the Krupps opposite it and then 4 infantry bttns in line. The French infantry shoot 36 inches compared to the Prussian 18 inches! The Prussians being larges units, get 4 shots though.

First French shooting and the 2 front bttns are disordered and one has 3 casualties. I need to inflict 4 to shake them.

On opposite flank Prussians did not move! French moved up through the woods on ridge.

I rushed a unit up into the centre wood with another at rear of wood and a 3rd angles to shoot across table. Each division has 1 unit of light infantry.

Goldie forms a 3 bttn line on his left flank .

View from hedges to French line and farmhouse.

The Prussian batteries would spend several turns of ineffective fire on the Farm house.

Goldies right finally did some advancing.

Realising he needed artillery support on his right. Goldie ordered the artillery regt to limber up and move to the right. They got the order wrong…instead rolled a double six…which is a blunder…followed by and 1 and they retired off the table. This means be 2 or 3 turns before they can fire again…PERFECT!

Goldie advanced the brigade to throw me out of centre wood.

I managed to roll a few more than one would expect of 6’s when shooting so was constantly disordering Goldies advancing infantry which also reduced the effect of their firing. Below Goldie has advanced a unit up to close range ready to blast my flank bttn.

A bit further on French have moved bttn from behind wood to get more shots in,,,,,,the Mitrailleuse is also ready to machine gun down the enemy!(this shoots as a machine gun, it rolls 2 dice…if a roll hits, you keep rolling until it misses)

Here is a close up of this little beauty. I deployed this away from Goldies artillery and being an ‘Unclear’ target, Goldie cannot target it with infantry if they are same or closer distance.

The plan to advance to close range and shoot up my flank bttn has not worked. By games end Goldie was lamenting about these guys. The saved hit after hit! And dished it back out!!

Hedge bound bttns…they kept getting disordered…not only from bttns to front but also the battery and a bttn in other brigade. The 36 inch shooting range for French infantry is awesome.

The first Prussian bttn breaks and flees.

Goldie moved the 3rd regt from in the hedges to cover the front of a shaken bttn on the left, it then gets disordered….the other 2 bttns are taking damage as well.

Mitralleuse checking out which target to shred!

Other flank and another Prussian bttn has popped…..they have a stamina of 4, and the 3 remaining are on 3. The French have stamina 3 and 2 are on 2! Its close.

Another Prussian bttn pops…this time in the hedges.

Goldie deployed his artillery within 36 inches……and they didn’t get a shot as had moved x 2 …so they drew all my fire…..they are stamina 1 units…so 3 are shaken and the left 2 are also disordered.

Goldie continues trying to take the centre wood……he has moved Prussian bttn up the flank and shot up a bttn on ridgeline that coupled with artillery fire…broke and ran!

Goldies left flank brigade now breaks. The forward bttn gets 3 bttns and battery firing into it…it pops. With damage to other bttns..brigade is now broken.

The mitralleuse finally got some god shooting in and a battery popped..Goldie moved his guns back out of range…and the French on ridgeline moved forward to keep shooting them.

So that was game 1……. we agreed a French victory.

Back in the 80’s I started playing FPW games at Military Miniatures in Auckland where Mark(1866 and all that) had a MASSIVE collection of figures…we played HUGE games and invariably they were games of attrition…..but great games…so this is the start of that love affair for me again.

What makes the period so much fun is the differing weapons…the ranges of them…the size difference in units…..Zoauves…….Guard…….and the need for each side to employ differing tactics.

Will be painting French quite a while I think!

Until next time…Terry out.