Bumper Week

 On, off, back on again, Dan had set up the Battle of Cerignola at the club but had got caught in the wake of an accident on the M6 and would seemingly be stuck for a long time, he has the keys for the club so made a decision to cancel, then just as the news filtered through he escaped and it was all back on again. Thankfully all I was taking was dice and the rules.

I was the French commander while newcomer Joel was my second, I took the left with the French infantry and Joel took the right and the Swiss, we also had a couple of cavalry units, in front of us on a hill with a moat in front, I think there was some confusion here as it should have been a ditch with defences, no matter the scene was set. We moved aggressively from the start, my cavalry were destroyed while Joel's swept to victory, none of this had any effect on the infantry battle. The huge Swiss pike block managed to get across the moat in good order despite taking heavy casualties from gunpowder weapons and cannon on the way in, my French were somewhat slower. Despite the disparity the Spanish arquebusiers sold their lives dearly but were eventually crushed, just as they fell the Landsknecht reserve careered down the hill and smashed into the Swiss, the Germans came to grief as the Swiss yeomen held then replused the pikemen. Meanwhile on the left my French had also crossed the terrain and pushed back or dispersed the arquebusiers to their front.

 

My troops.

 

Joel's huge Swiss pike block.

Push of pike.

As the sun set the Spanish conceded defeat, the Swiss were, as usual, the men of the match and had weathered shot and shell along with some ferocious hand to hand combat. Another reminder of how perhaps these are too powerful under the rules. The scenario was taken from the recent scenario book on the Italian Wars by Rodolfo Verginella.

The next day it was again Italian Wars but this time in 28mm here in the War Room (not calling it The Shop, just daft now as there is no sign of one). Again we took a scenario from Rodolfo's book, the battle of La Motta, this time a Spanish army (me) fought against Venice (Julian).  At first glance it seemed the Venetians were the underdogs but wargames have a way of turning things upside down when you least expect it, just in case I decided to use the 'what if' option of a Venetian suprise attack on the Spanish rear.

My best troops were on my right, Landsknechts, but as the Venetians had quite a strong force opposite them along with some light cavalry I didn't want to get caught on the flank so wanted to wait until my left had brushed aside all opposition and sealed the Venetians fate. I also pushed my left flank Spanish pike forward as quick as they could go as the Italian flank march would be right behind them if it turned up. As this was going on I thought I had a good opportunity to beat the Venetian cavalry in the centre so I also pushed my mounted troops forward.

The Venetians

The Spanish.

The battlefield.

Julian advanced, albeit slowly due to the stream to his front, but in a concerted manner all along his line, a couple of his units fell into disorder while crossing the bad terrain but not enough to put him on the back foot. I was still worried about my right flank as the light cavalry and skirmishers approached, but in the end threw one pike block towards the enemy splashing across the stream. My Gente D'Armas cavalry were now eliminated while my Jinettes were doing sterling work chasing off skirmishers and then thundering into the victorious Venetian Lanze Spezzate in a brave but rash attempt to plug the gap between my right and left. They were so close but in the end they were ridden over, and now my army had been cut in two.

My cautious left.

My, at first, eager left.

The battle for the centre about to start.

As it came to push of pike I actually got the worst of it, and as I throw more troops into the fight it seemed that I was making no headway at all, despite being better troops, only my better morale kept me in the fight. Soon all the pike blocks were in combat and for a fleeting moment I thought I was going to be rewarded by the Emperor for my victory, I was soon disabused of this idea as my left flank was suddenly thoroughly trounced just as my right sealed their victory by vanquishing their foes. With time running out I had lost my left and centre and to all intents and purposes the Venetians had managed a hard fought win. To put the icing on the cake the Italian flank march now turned up as the Spanish left the field.

Still looking good on the left.

Nope, its gone.

Push of pike.

Just about to smash the Venetian left.

A suprise result for both of us I think and a very good game. As usual a couple of things came up, after the game at the club and some discussion we tried to lessen the effect of skirmishers although we still have to think that through but it seemed to work. We also had some thoughts on the Raiders combat rule which mystifies me as they can be deadly in the first round of melee and at the end of the day they are simply light/medium cavalry. I have to mention that I changed dice half way through while Julian had some excellent rolls when saving and dealing out death. This does not take away that he fought a good fight anyway.

No sooner was Julian heading off than I had to pack everything away as an old wargaming friend from over the border was staying in Lancaster for the night and was coming to start a Chain of Command campaign. I had to move into overdrive, reset the table, work out my defensive strategy and get all the gubbins ready. We had decided on The Road to Bremen, I played this solo during the recent unpleasantness and thought it was a challenge for both sides but particularly the Germans, it has some very different mechanics to most small campaigns. The Germans cannot win in the normal sense as the war is just about to end, but they can 'win' if the British are delayed getting to Bremen.

On the road to Bremen.

For the first game I decided to contest the table with a Fallschirmjager platoon and a Pak 40, at the beginning of the game you roll a die, get the wrong score and your platoon surrenders enmasse, luckily I had chosen the paras and not an army or Volksturm platoon as with my roll they would have surrendered and it would have been on to the next table.

Germans in wait.

British deploying.

Pinned, aaargh!

The game kicked off and naturally I was defending, Robert came on cautiously using oodles of smoke and building up a base of fire behind it. Did the British actually use as much smoke as you can in Chain of Command, I doubt it. Anyway, I bided my time and on trundled two Bren gun carriers which Robert used well to annoy me, as time ran on I did eventually manage to get a shot off at this troops in the centre of the table, something like 20 dice and not one kill, some shock but that really didn't cut it, I think I managed this twice with almost no effect. Robert had almost the same problem trying to kill my squad, the bad news was that they became pinned, which basically means they go to ground and soak up all the incoming fire until they break. Yes there was a lovely big brick building within spitting distance, a fence behind them and an orchard a grenade's throw away, but they just stayed put, grrrr.

More smoke.

My Pak chalks up a hit.

A Sherman appeared and I put my Pak 40 down, bang, first hit and the Sherman brewed up, this put a smile on my face until a second one turned up staying out of sight of the anti-tank gun. I had a squad out on my left in the orchard but retreated them out of harms way into the trees, my Pak was now dragged to the rear so the British infantry could not catch it. The British had now put another squad on against my left, under the cover of smoke, I got a couple of shots off but the main event has still to come, it was about this time that I also pulled back the squad on my right.

This campaign is long term, Robert only turns up in this area now and again and not always for an overnight stay, but it is better than doing a one off game, thanks to technology I have photographed where we left off and we will pick it up anon. Robert is always a handy reminder to my missus that I really do not have a huge collection of wargame figures compared to some.

I have just finished Mike Snook's book on Isandlwana and it is a tour de force, and the actions of those British soldiers on that fateful day should make us all proud, it would of course have been far better had not Sir Bartle Frere engineered the war in the first place. I was so pleased I have now taken delivery of his book on Rorke's Drift. 

I have also spent on a Kangaroo troop carrier and another Universal carrier for the Bremen campaign, I haven't managed a lot of painting but have some horses ready for the leatherwork along with Nuns for the Gembloux Gap campaign next month. I am also sorting something which has bugged me for ages now, I got a Rubicon Dingo a while back and once it was painted I realised the green did not fit with the rest of my British armour, I couldn't take it anymore and it has had another coat, weathering and decals up next.

Enjoying the Fallout TV series at the moment, it has been taken from an old computer game, I like the retro music, look and feel of the series. There is a bit of 'the Message' hidden in there considering it is loosely based around the '60's but it is subtler than normal and I can live with it. I think the last of Shogun was this week, not sure as I am keeping it in my pocket for tonight or tomorrow. Talking about 'the Message' I see Wargames Illustrated has given an Historical prize to a bunch of Shieldmaidens, shouldn't that be a Fantasy prize (INCOMINGGGGGG).

I am also busy with a new 27 map project, they are fairly easy to draw but just take time, after that is Volume 2 of the Great Russian Patriotic War of 1812, nine maps which require quite a bit of work.

Nothing at the moment organised here until 5th of May when I hope to fight Champion Hill, a fairly large ACW game, I will also fit in anyone else who wants to venture to the War Room.