Review

 I'm back! We survived our journey down South and actually made it there and back in 4.5 hours which is a minor miracle on our roads these days, we did encounter some push back from a 'smart' motorway on the way home which seemed to increase the congestion rather than reduce it. I was never one for conspiracy theories but I do wonder if the constant 40mph is more to cheese me off than continue the flow of traffic. We had a great week and were treated like royalty by my son and his partner, I didn't lift a finger for seven days. I also did well in the gifts department although nothing wargame related for the first time in decades, I did manage some nice books amongst other stuff.

 I had thought my wargaming was over for this year but I received an invite to a SYW bash at Dans just before I flew south for Christmas. It was fought out today and was very enjoyable even though it was Black Powder (with a heavy load of commonsense from the regular players). I was in command of the Austrian centre with six battalions of infantry and three squadrons of curassiers. Dan had devised a small meta game which would or could have an effect on each armies deployment, Fran who was the Prussian CinC was cautious but Rob as our commander put a lot into the scouting beforehand, therefore some Prussian forces would be delayed arriving while another lot just wouldn't turn up, we also managed to deploy forward so got a jump on the Prussians.

My brigade and supports ready to rush forward.

 

Nervously looking around for the rest of the Austrians.

The curassiers unleashed.

The plan was for our left and centre to move on the enemy while our right merely threatened the Prussians. On my first move my entire force went hell for leather against the enemy centre and found itself out on a limb in front of the entire Prussian army, Rob on the right would not subsequently move for several turns, Matt on my left got off to a slow start but eventually managed to move up to join me. I stood and took a lot of lead but weathered it well despite looking at one point as if my troops would retire. Matt now went against the Prussian right and somehow managed to be winning but lost all his cavalry and his infantry looked to be in trouble, it was now in desperation I brought my curassiers into the action, although they were never overly successful their continuous charges and support for Matt's Dragoons gradually wore down the Prussian line. Allied to the success at last of Matt's infantry these manouvres caused the Prussian right to retire from the field, a definition of victory from the jaws of defeat.

The Prussian centre folds

My men still stood in the midst of a hurricane of fire and despite everything thrown at them managed to hold their line. The Prussian left had now turned up and was trying to put pressure on Rob's small brigade but somehow Rob managed to hold them off. The pressure now built on the Prussian centre to finally try something to stabilise the situation but Fran failed to persuade his men to back him, instead they threw the towel in and retired.

So that was the last game of 2023 and it finished the year off on a high, especially as at one point it had looked like both Matt and I would be overwhelmed and sent packing only for the dice gods to turn half way through the battle in our favour. A great afternoon of fun and laughter.

What about the rest of the year, well not a bad year wargaming wise, I started and finished the Imperial Army of 1525 to face my Pavia French, I have had a little break from painting and am now unsure whether to begin or delay Phase 3, this being the introduction of troops from various Italian States, if I do they might consist of a pike block, a gun and a couple of mounted units. I had a daft idea to build up some Peasant Bands for the German Peasants War but those poor guys in reality should never stand a chance in a pitched battle, my next daft idea is to add more Swiss, but earlier than 1525 with the upcoming Steel Fist figures. These would be Confederation Swiss and not mercenaries for the 2nd and 3rd Milan Wars period. It's still all up in the air.

The Italian Wars of course took up quite a bit of my wargaming time here at home, with several chaps coming to refight some of the battles with Julian and I. It would seem I am a poor commander (new dice needed) for this period and have yet to gain success on the battlefield, but this is offset by the sheer enjoyment of seeing massed pike blocks and swarms of cavalry face each other across the table and everyone having fun.

I did at last manage to play a Chain of Command campaign thanks to Matt Crump who has valiantly fought the Hitlerites off as they attempt to kick in the rotten Soviet door around Smolensk and win Operation Barbarossa, something which now seems impossible to do, hopefully a full article on this later in the year. Is it getting colder?

I have not played as many ACW games as I would have liked here at home, but I did manage to field my War and Conquest forces thanks to Stuart Smith and my Seven Years War troops thanks to Erik Faithfull who journeyed to Casa Anderson.

And on the subject of Casa Anderson the builders are due to arrive in the third week of January so my home games will be on hold until it is all finished, I expect this to take at least two months, maybe three. I am not looking forward to the upset but it will I hope be worth it when I open the 'War Room'. If you can think of a better name then suggestions on a postcard.

I have finished my last map of 2023 a private commission for my nephew of Rorke's Drift which is to be framed and presented to someone as a birthday present, I really enjoyed doing this one (see the books above). This year I have drawn 406 maps for 49 projects. I have two new projects in the wings but am determined to see the year out before starting, one is warfare in the Indian Ocean just after the American War of Independence and the other is entitled Battles and Battlefields of the Peninsular War.

For a time there I had thought of stopping the blog or if not to simply cut down on the number of posts, I managed this for a few weeks then things ran away with me and there was a lot to say, also I do enjoy doing it so perhaps less posts in '24 but I should still be here.

I will finish with two recommendations to watch over the holidays, both on AppleTV, Slow Horses and Silo, the latter is an old one and one which I stayed away from as it didn't seem to be my cup of char, but I was wrong, so wrong I have even bought the books, I also intend at some point to buy the Slow Horses series as well. And I nearly forgot The Equalizer 3, bad guys get their just deserts, what's not to like.

Silo

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

 I am not at home and so unable to do a review of 2023 until I reconnect to the digital world, I can’t type more than a sentence on an iPad.

But I would like to wish everyone who reads my musings a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

George

Last calls for 2023

 After a bit of a break it was back to the Italian Wars this week at the club, using the now familiar battle of Ceresole as a base we used Dan's resurrected 15mm figures all newly based for Furioso. I took the French once again, and once again I despaired of the French deployment.

I held my Gendarmes back as I moved my pike blocks to the front, as the battle developed I sent a unit to each flank to back up my heavy cavalry. Before this I found my artillery and most of my skirmishers were not keen on moving or firing on the Imperials, on the other hand the Imperial guns and skirmish screens were causing my advancing infantry a lot of problems. I persisted though and my German/Swiss block hit the enemy Spaniards opposite, my Swiss pushed through the enemy screens, overran an artillery piece and then smashed into some Landsknechts, nearby my French moved on a smaller Landsknecht pike block supporting the larger one. 

Then it all happened, my left flank heavy cavalry were ridden down by their Imperial counterparts, the Swiss were stopped and incredibly (to me) pushed back by the Landsknechts, the French infantry supporting them were also pushed back. The only bright spot was that the German/Swiss block hammered the Spanish and were within a whisker of destroying them but the enemy held on with grim determination. On the right flank it looked like I could possibly hold the Imperials with my Gendarmes and heavy cavalry but it was merely a hope as the battle came to an end.

Things were certainly going well for the Imperials at the end, I was only winning one combat and things looked very bad for the Swiss and French infantry. Once again my shooting was abysmal in this battle and I found it hard to get my skirmishers to move, even my Gendarmes lost a morale test at one point when my heavy cavalry dispersed, so much for French elan. The game itself played well in 15mm although it did take time for me to get used to the scale from my 28mm battles. The good news is Dan's men are far more easily transportable than mine for a club game and we can do a decent large battle within the club time limit.

That leaves this weeks home game, Erik was coming back for a second Seven Year War bash. The author of the AWI Atlas is now doing a wargamers guide for Helion and as I did the maps I took his battle of Camden as inspiration for yesterday's game. It is a simple get stuck in game with both sides lined up against each other, I of course do not have AWI troops so it was French and British, the French initially outflank the British line but the British have reserves arriving behind their main force and they have a cavalry unit.

 I was unlucky once again with commanders and got one Dashing and two Ditherers, Erik got a Dependable and two Ditherers, so the commander in chief would be up front in both armies inspiring one of the ditherers. I tried to advance quickly on the British right and hoped I would win the numbers game before the reserves arrived, I did not manage this before the enemy line was extended and the cavalry raced to turn my left flank, nevertheless I did manage to get within long range of the red line and deal out some pain on the serried ranks before me. I was worried about the British horse though and had to send a battalion to deal with them which meant I was now being outnumbered on my left, over on the right nothing was moving quickly and both sides remained staring at each other throughout the battle.

Erik must have felt pressured as I sent his cavalry packing and his battalions began to suffer losses so he surprised me by withdrawing his battle line, as I had moved to the centre of the table and suffered for it I was not going to continue to press him. Although he managed to rally off a lot of casualties so did I, I also managed to bring back two battalions which had had to retreat, with the threat of the cavalry now gone I felt a lot better. With darkness approaching, quite literally, Erik now tried to bring his line forward, this proved a struggle due to his less than enthusiastic commanders.

He did manage in the end but the shoe was on the other foot this time and my men were calmly standing waiting as he moved on them, volleys crashed out and British casualties mounted, the Redcoats came into close range and tried one magnificent but rash charge into some waiting French grenadiers, the return fire all along the line proved too much and the British centre and right disintigrated, the battle was over. Once again a nice little battle and a treat to get my SYW troops on the table, and a win this time.

I have the builders in around the third week of January and once the holidays are over I need to relocate all my wargaming paraphernalia elsewhere in the house for at least a couple of months, maybe even a friends house. So there will be no more games here for some time, a real shame as I have managed to get quite a few people to venture here over the year, Matt Crump, Stuart Smith and Erik Faithfull along with club members. My wargaming for now then will consist of club games and possibly the odd big bash in the Gin Pit. I must now think of what I will do for the grand opening.

 I am finishing up my last Imperial cavalry unit of the year and have put some gun crews aside to work on, I am not at all fussed about these in that I don't feel in a rush to paint them, I feel a little painted out for now. Perhaps I just need a change, I have asked for a SdKfz 222 for Christmas as I want one in panzer grey for early war, I just could not use the late war one, I also offered to paint some of my grandsons fantasy characters for him as he has several sets coming for Christmas, this would simply be a painting exercise to prove to myself I can do it. I then have some cavalry and artillery to strip, clean up and paint.

I have sent away my last map projects for 2023 and put down my stylus until the new year. After the success of the AWI Atlas I believe Helion are looking at two more, that could prove interesting for 2024.

Old Dog, New Tricks?

 I have one set of rules I have been playing since 1988, my second longest playing rule set is from 2014, these two continue to be my favourites although there are a couple of other sets/games I have played for some time or go back to now and again. I enjoy, in the main, what I play and am willing to try things outside my comfort zone, but suspect I would not pick up on a completely new set anymore.

This week I was introduced to 'O Group', a company level WW2 game with elements of Chain of Command in it, it has to be 'abstract' to a degree in order for the game not to bog down, all well and good but a lot of abstraction niggles me. I was the French and defending against a German assault in 1940, I had less numbers than Matt but was defending, I put two companies on the table and left one in reserve, Matt did basically the same thing. I got off to a decent start and wiped out his recce armoured cars and I think I got one of his Panzer II's later, while he got both my anti-tank portee units, by the end of the night he had not got very far and I still had a company in reserve.

Can you make a call on a set of rules having played only one game with no clue as to what your are doing, probably not but I do know I would not hurry back for another game of 'O Group', despite Matt taking the time to explain everything for me.

My second foray into a new rule set was yesterday at the Gin Pit in Grange where Rob once again organised a large Napoleonic game to test them out, some small games had been played at the club but this was the big one, seven players and umpteen brigades on both sides using Valour and Fortitude from the Perry brothers, and they are free. Needless to say they are a fast play set for big battles and once again therefore with a fair bit of abstraction.

Basically the Russians and Austrians were holding ground to prevent a French withdrawal, the French I am told outnumbered the Allies but looking along the table I was not so sure about that. I held the French left and my three brigades were well outnumbered by the Russians opposite and they had much larger battalions to boot, this will no doubt not surprise Napoleonic players but it came as a shock to me. Anyway I had decided not to attack and simply hold the Russians, who duly forgot they were defending and instead launched an attack all along their line ably commanded by Stewart.

French centre.

French left, me.

Good looker third from right, me.

My division.

We learned that skirmishers were simply used as a suicide squad to soak up fire as your attack went in, there was no closing fire if you were charged and I was not convinced of many of the other mechanics, yes they were fast but did they feel like I had been commanding a Napoleonic division, nope, but then as I said, I do not know much about Napoleonic warfare despite being an admirer of the big man.

Erik moving on the Austrians.

Cavalry fight.

I grab the village.

My right in trouble.

Anyway Stewart did launch a successful attack on my right and took out the brigade on that flank, I stopped going forward and reorganised my line to at least attempt a speed bump before the Russians steamrollered me. I did manage to build up an attack by my left hand brigade and it took an objective just as the shutters came down, so a win for me and an overwhelming win for the French as victory points were tallied up. As I waited patiently for my turn to move, a huge cavalry combat had occured way over on the French right between Rob and Paul which had destroyed the Austrian and Russian cavalry while Stuart and Erik managed to overwhelm Michael around the centre of the battlefield.

The rules certainly were quick and I think the consensus is that they will overtake Black Powder in the Gin Pit battles, personally these types of rules are simply not for me, I don't have massive Napoleonic armies and although I like big battles they are generally under the figure count of these games. I do very much enjoy spending the day with friends and moving wee sojers around however and as long as the lads keep me on the straight and narrow will continue to turn up, but I will never quite understand the rules.

Ah, now for the sting in the tail, Matt came around to play our latest game in the Smolensk Campaign, I felt fairly good about this meeting, my platoon was back to full strength and I took a PzII and in anticipation of Russian armour paid for a heavy anti-tank rifle, which should be enough to support my boys. This hope was kept alive until I heard the clank, clank of tank tracks and Matt drove a KV1 onto the field. I had also not done my homework and it transpired that the large area of scrub in the middle of the battlefield prevented me seeing anything behind it apart from the damn KV1.

Panzer II arrives.

The monster and battle winner.

Soviets.

I hid my troops from the nosy Red monster and Matt set his in a corner on overwatch apart from a forlorn hope in the centre, the amount of firepower on the Russian left was against me quickly moving forward. I therefore moved my PzII on and took the Russian forlorn hope under fire as vehicles could see over the scrub, this was going nowhere fast so I decided to move the tank up at the same time as the heavy anti-tank rifle and hopefully kill or at least damage the KV. Twice the AT rifle failed to spot the thing, yes, a KV1 became invisible, gah, this also happened with the PzII, the return fire when it came brewed the panzer and routed the AT rifle.

"What if we go that way Hans?"

It's all over.

I called a halt with two men dead and withdrew, I was not prepared to sacrifice a platoon to try and win an uphill struggle. I did think later that I could have just put everything on the front line and hope that Matt would take heavy losses and his morale dropped before mine, but as the KV was sitting waiting with two MG's supporting all the infantry on overwatch I simply despaired of winning anything. The initiative now belongs to Matt who can still win the game with two turns to go, he might even get a major win if he chooses the right tables, there is a very slim chance the Germans could cause both sides to lose but the ball is in the Russian court for now.

Alright I could have organised better and should have taken into account the terrain but this game threw up one of those Chain of Command regulars where the game is just no fun at all, and this effects both sides, Matt had travelled an hour to come and play a game and although we had a laugh and chewed the wargame fat, he deserved better for the effort, he did enjoy it though.

I recommended Vagabond on Netflix last post, if you do listen to me on these things stop watching at Episode 13, and consign the last three to the dustbin. I am still furious over the ending having enjoyed the series and spent hours watching it, it is as though they simply switched everything off and went home, completing nothing and leaving half a dozen plot lines to simply hit the buffers.

 There are quite a few jokes (or are they memes now?) about Napoleon the movie, here is a sample.

 

"Sheer ******* Hubris"

 Some of you might recognise the title as a quote from one of the myriad Star Trek franchises this time starring Patrick Stewart, I only caught it because The Critical Drinker, my goto cinema/TV critic, uses it along with some other clips to show his displeasure at modern cinema. You will remember my crowing last post about my victories, what I had forgotten on my online Triumph was the slave at my back continually whispering "remember you are mortal, and don’t forget my reparations”.

I had vanquished the mighty Normans you might recall and chose to get another game of War and Conquest in at the club with Simon. I normally let 'newbies' take the Romano-British as they have a small advantage over the Saxons but this time Simon chose Saxons, so I was quite pleased to be in command once again of my first ever War and Conquest army and one of my favourites, it had been ages since I led them onto the field of battle.

I chose a balanced army with four infantry blocks and a cavalry unit supported by massed archers and skirmishers, once I had done this I checked Simon's list for the evening as I would have to bring his troops, it was a good list but lacked variety with no cavalry or skirmishers, just five large infantry blocks. It would be fair to say I was not unduly worried. On the night I deployed with my cavalry and skirmishers on the left and the other skirmishers and massed archers on my right, stretching between were my infantry, opposite the Saxons were simply lined up in a battle line.

 As we began I moved my cavalry out to threaten the Saxon right, this took care of one of the enemy blocks, so now it was four versus four, I raced two of my Milites to grab a nearby hill before Simon's mercenary Franks could get it. Showers of missiles darkened the sky but as the dust settled no Saxons were lying in the grass, again the light was blotted out as the enemy advanced and again nothing happened. My boys sat on their hill and awaited the Frankish onslaught, it was going to be touch and go but I had faith, wait, two men with headaches and the Milites run for the rear being cut down in the pursuit, their nearby friends deciding to run with them! OK not headaches but I had lost maybe three casualties overall in the two units, this doesn't happen to me, only my enemies. I thought perhaps I could advance and do the same to the Saxons opposite my non routing units, if I did this quickly I could be back in the game.

 My elites failed miserably to go into shield wall and move, my remaining Milites were now attacked and again ran for the rear, what was going on. The Franks were now moving on my hearthguard and Dux, these stalwart men were now surrounded by Saxons and prepared to sell their lives dearly, no, wait, that is not what happened, they were crushed and wiped out. I didn't need to hand over my sword as it was picked up on the field amongst the wreckage of my army.

I think the fight lasted one and a half hours, I was slaughtered, no that's not true as no one had actually fought, I was gutted, a good army with their good dice (a set for everyone) and they had let me down. Were they taking their revenge on me for not being fielded, had the dice lost their edge, who knows. I have had one battle before like this where it took me longer to place the terrain than fight before being whipped. Well done to Simon.

I did not take photographs of this action, not because I did not want it recorded but I plan to leave my larger write ups for games here at home now, I was also expecting to be back to gaming the Smolensk Campaign and have a report for that but I got the dates mixed up so it has now been delayed for a week.

I am watching yet another excellent Korean series, I can recommend 'Vagabond', a thriller with constant action and myriad plots. I have been following the reviews of 'Napoleon' on YouTube and the overwhelming consensus seems to be Merde!