An interesting week

 Last shall be first. My second outing of the Seven Years War set of rules 'Honours of War', it has been a long time coming, Covid didn't help of course. Rob wanted another shot at the game and I set up a small action based very loosely on Eutaw Springs from the American War of Independence only this time the Americans had morphed into the French. The British held a long single line while the French had two lines deployed and slightly outnumbered the British, each side was organised into three brigades, although the French had cavalry on both flanks the British right was anchored on Eutaw Springs and was therefore safe from outflanking, the left was not so safe but had the only British cavalry on the field.

 On rolling for the character of our brigadiers Rob got Inspiring and two Dependables, I got two Ditherers and one Dependable, not a good start. I was happy to anchor my right flank on the creek and test the French with my Highland Brigade on my left which I advanced to cut down the room available to the French cavalry, Rob came on aggressively from the start while my right flank commander decided to have a cup of tea, thankfully I had no great plans for him. Before long volleys rang out along the whole line and the French line wavered as some Grenadiers retired from the fray, however their left flank cavalry threw themselves with elan against my right and knocked back the 33rd Foot, in their haste to follow up they took heavy casualties ran and retired from the field. This move caused me to have concern for my flank but against the odds the small brigade held throughout despite mounting French pressure. On my left my cavalry charged and was countercharged, no one won this melee and both sides retired to reorganise, it did however allow me to follow up with the Scots as the French on this flank were in a mess as their attack dissolved into disarray as two brigades became enmeshed. Sadly the Scots halted and failed to take advantage of this meyhem.  

 Suddenly the battle took a turn for the worse for the French, a spectacular round of British volleys sent several battalions to the rear while their brigadiers suffered wounds and their command characteristics plummeted, the British commanders also received wounds and were left with very cautious men in charge of all their brigades. Nonetheless the British recovered better than the French and pushed their advantage as the French force fell apart, one brave grenadier battalion threw themselves at the British in a last hurrah and although beating back their foe, found themselves like the Guard at Waterloo surrounded by British guns and muskets. It was all over.

 An excellent game with a very good set of rules, simple but effective. My highlanders had won back their reputation after their dismal performance in the last game while the 33rd and 23rd/55th combined grenadiers had held my flank against all the odds, the French Grenadiers de France had not lived up to their reputation nor had their Irish and Scots mercenaries. The British had lost one unit while the French had lost five and been very close to their army breaking. 

Previously at the club it had been Muskets and Tomahawks, I had command of a Scottish force on the British right and my job was to prevent the Colonials burning a nearby bridge. I advanced against the provincials with all the disdain of regular troops for civvies with guns and pitchforks and paid the price, I lost my skirmishers and my two regular units were cut to pieces and only just remained on the field of battle. Rob on my left was taking his time to get his irregulars through some woods while staying out of the field of fire of the American musketry. The Yanks meanwhile managed to get to the bridge and set the damn thing on fire before my artillery and at last my musketry drove them back, I could not however get near the bridge to attempt to put the fire out.

 The game took a comical turn as it started to rain, but not heavy enough and too late to put the fire out, more rain did fall but again it did not help,but it was the harbinger of a storm which caused the creek to flood and effectively cut Rob's men off from their objective on the opposite bank. Soaked to the skin and with half my men dead or wounded I could only watch as the damn rebels gathered their wounded and disappeared into the woods job done.

Two days before my defeat in the woods I attended FIASCO in Leeds, it rained cats and dogs and I almost turned back just outside Lancaster, however although the rain did not stop until I got to Leeds it did let up a bit. I had also asked Andy at Last Valley to bring me a tree order so really had to turn up to collect it along with some extra tree's I had asked him to bring. On arrival there seemed to be a bit of a kerfuffle at the car park entrance, when I eventually got to the barrier it merely shouted 'Free Passage' at me, so in I drove.

The show was fine, I had made the decision to wear my mask but on entry I threw caution to the wind and went with the vast majority and went maskless, I have had my two jabs or jags as we Jocks say. The hall was large and airy and not overcrowded which helped my decision. Some of the bigger traders which I expected to see were not there so I was only tempted to get some brushes from ABC Brushes and the tree's from Andy, I only looked around to see if anything else took my fancy but nothing did. There was a good selection of actual wargames this time, some of which I had seen pictures of from Partizan, the Durham club Viking raid was excellent and Yarkshire Gamers Italian Wars spectacular. Oh, and Lancaster Wargames Club's participation Victory at Sea game with the beautiful 3D printed models from our very own Magpie Designer.

 

Victory at Sea.

Oh yes, the 'free' car park. Well the barrier wanted my ticket to get out, not only mine but the other twenty cars stuffed into the exit behind the unmovable barriers all without tickets. Pandemonium reigned and tempers were fraught as the voice from the control cubicle somewhere above or under us ensured us we must have a ticket to leave, "I didn't get a (&^%£%^ ticket". At least forty-five minutes later I managed to get out, yes after managing to get a ticket and pay up, which I would have been more than happy to have done if the machine hadn't waved me in with 'Free Passage!'.

So, happy with my game of SYW I have decided to add two more infantry battalions and one cavalry squadron to my forces before moving on to my new project for 2022, I am almost 90% sure of what it will be but will it still be that early next year, who knows.