Pereant proditores.

 I have been fairly quiet or it seems that way, I did have a complete week there with no wargaming which is unusual for me but I had a post operation appointment and my wife's birthday to sort along with a visit from my son and granddaughter. The appointment was pretty much a waste of time as they should have organised a scan before it but didn't, so one was organised immediately and it will be two weeks before the results are known, pardon me while I chuckle, it has never taken two weeks yet.

 A naval game was looking for a fourth player and I jumped in with two feet, it would be a pre-dreadnaught game involving a French force against an Egyptian one with the Suez canal as a back story. I was welcomed back and told how well I looked, I get told this quite often as people expect me to look very ill indeed, but I don't. Anyway I took command of the French 1st Squadron while Paul took the 2nd, a bit less impressive as mine, the Egyptians (with mostly British designed ships) were under the command of Dan and Ian. I simple went forward intending to trade shots with Ian, but as Paul opened up the gap between us I was hit by both Egyptian squadrons, Ian's gunnery was on target while mine was dismal. My flagship was soon left a floating, burning hulk while a second ship took a rudder hit and simply ran around in circles, this left me with one battleship which now took the brunt of the enemy fire and soon headed for Davy Jones' locker. Paul had now taken the second enemy squadron under fire but his gunnery was as bad as mine and despite Dan's assurance that 'the Egyptians are rubbish' they are fine if you cannot hit them. With me out of the picture both enemy squadrons now turned on Paul, despite Dan's ships being savaged they had dealt out punishment and with Ian's almost untouched ships now closing the range it was declared an Egyptian win. Despite my naval background my reputation was in tatters but not my reputation for poor die rolling.

My doomed squadron.

I was supposed to be heading for Penrith this Wednesday but Matt called off due to having a cold, so I asked if anyone at the club was free, Big Ed got back and offered a War and Conquest game, I jumped at the chance and we decided on another Roman v Roman clash, Ed with the Twelfth and me with Thrax's boys. The armies are almost identical so we both went for legionaries and auxiliaries supported with some skirmishers and cavalry, Ed had one less cavalry unit but a unit of massed archers, I had Contarii to give my cavalry a bit of steel.

Thrax on the right, rebels on the left.

We lined up our infantry and I put all my cavalry on my left, Ed had his cavalry opposite, I was quite happy with this as I knew the Contarii should(?) be able to beat the weaker enemy horse. The Thunderbolts advanced their centre and took station on a hill in the centre of the battlefield, I pushed against both flanks with the main effort being my cavalry on the enemy right. I managed at last to get the Initiative but unusually for me I handed it back to Ed forcing him to move before me, this was going to hopefully allow me to get into charge reach with several units as he came forward, Ed helped me out and moved his cavalry closer to the waiting Contarii, I smiled inside. 

Contarii.

 

The rest of my cavalry.

Contarii threaten the rebel flank.

The last men standing for the Twelfth.

It's all over for the rebels.

In quick succession the Rebel cavalry were routed as were the skirmishers on the opposite flank, the Twelfth's flanks had gone. The long suffering cohort of Auxiliaries on my right, V Dalmatarum, who had been acting as pin cushions for Ed's massed archers managed to charge their nemisis and get their revenge as the sagittarii fled. I now decided to test the resolve of the enemy on the hill and ordered the Thirtieth to charge the Auxiliaries above them while Thrax with the First waited for the outcome at the foot of the hill. More of Ed's troops now fled as the Thirtieth planted their standard on the hill, this caused him to try a desperate charge downhill to try and kill Thrax and turn the tide of battle. In a brutal struggle Thrax did indeed take a wound but First Minerva held against the veterans of the Twelfth's First Cohort and eventually they broke and their leader captured. Thrax had pulled off a second crushing victory against another Roman army.

My missus popped her head into the Bunker and asked if anyone wanted anything, "Luck" said Ed. I think luck was pretty much even but mine turned up just when needed while it deserted Ed at the wrong time. Again it was great to get the armies on the table, wargaming at its best for me. We have pencilled in a return match for later when I think I will push my luck and take Barbarians against a Roman army.

I have some fun coming up, my son will be here on Saturday to try out Chain of Command, Matt has rescheduled for next Wednesday and I have Erik's on Friday, both ECW, I will need some R&R after that.

I have noticed a few coincidences over the last week, the Yorkists came through Carnforth on their way to Stoke Field in 1487, the Jacobites came past in 1745 on their way to Preston and the Scots raided Penrith in 1385.

I was greeted with howls of laughter at the club when I intimated that I had finished collecting armies, but I really have. I will admit to now having the time to maybe, maybe turn to a couple of things which have nagged me for ages, adding an extra file to my Seleucid pike phalanxes and adding the same or maybe two, to the Twelfth's first cohort to make it larger than the others as it always was in the early legions.

 I have finished the lovely gift from Matt Smith, I have kept it simple and believe it has turned out OK. The last of my BEF are on the tray and should be finished sometime this weekend and ready for battle.

 I think that is it for now. 

From Flouncy Shirts to Lace

 What a miserable month so far, and we have a leak in the roof, that is going to cost. Just as well I have my final Imperial troops on order, this along with the cutting down of the rottern cherry tree, the painting of the downstairs and hall along with modifications to the two outhouses leaves this old pensioner skint and despondent, what's it all about Alfie?

Oh, and that order is now almost three weeks late and no reply to two emails so far apart from the old 'your message is important to us......' guff.

I played Bolt Action at the club on Tuesday, it was against Joel who came along for the first time, he has only played Bolt Action at tournaments and travels quite a lot to fulfill his urge to play the game. It was American paratroopers vs Germans, I was the bad guys and took four squads along with a Marder III, a panzerschreck and a MMG, Joel had two jeeps, a Chaffee, mortar and four squads.

I was put on the back foot right away as Joel ran two jeeps straight up the centre of the table at me, something which has never happened in all my years at the club, the first jeep had a machine gun and was annoying to kill, the second had a flamethrower team, agh! I quickly lost most of a squad with one man remaining before I could kill the flamethrower. Joel calmed down after this and I took the lead having taken out three of his command dice. Near the end it was me who got carried away and I made some mistakes so the game ended in a draw. Joel was a pleasure to play against but his comments on his tournament games just confirmed I could never play in one. With the new Case Blue campaign book the Hungarians can have Tiger I's and, wait for it, their tanks can have Recce, which allows a 54 ton tank to back up out of danger, no, I don't get it either.

I have managed to set up a few home games of late and this week it was Seven Years War with another new wargamer, Erik has been out of the loop for a while and wanted to get back in and found me through the blog and Charles at Helion. I set up a small scenario from an article on the Honours of War website, the British rearguard was facing a French force and had to retreat their baggage train and a couple of their battalions off the table. Once I had the table and deployment set up it seemed like a very hard job for the French to win, their flanking force was up against the British main body and there was simply no way it could threaten them, apart from possibly being a nuisance. The main French force was shoehorned into one corner and had to make its way through a wood and past its own vanguard to get at the British defenders on a hill, meanwhile there was nothing to stop the wagons making a leisurely exit once across a nearby ford. A river flowed through the battlefield and the only way across was three fords.

British rearguard.

View from behind the British left.

British cavalry and baggage train.

View from behind the British right.

I ended up with two dithering commanders while Erik had one in charge of his cavalry. I got my flanking force, one cavalry regiment and one battalion of infantry, across before Erik moved on them. I had no option but to charge the cavalry in and hope for the best, they were wiped out, however the Bretagne battalion stood their ground magnificently and twice forced the British back, but numbers told in the end and they too dispersed.

French flanking force crosses the river.

French main force arrives.

British cavalry get brave.

French in position to advance.

On the other flank I spent a lot of time getting my infantry brigade up and into a position to make a move on the two enemy battalions blocking my way into the British rear, the British also had two cavalry regiments but as they neared my troops the musket volleys scared them away and they retired. My vanguard infantry traded shots with the British on the hill while I decided to send my seemingly useless cavalry to the left to possible help my flanking force, but it took all day and by the time it approached the ford there was no friendly troops left.

More fragile cavalry.

 

The French breakthrough.

The pressure began to mount on the enemy defenders and they retired from the crest of the hill only to be followed up by my infantry as their casualties built up, the French main body now seemed unstoppable and one Battalion routed while the other was left facing hordes of French infantry. The baggage train as we suspected trotted along unharmed with the French having no chance of catching them, so I would have had to break the British force to win, and this was not going to happen with a weak flanking force and the rest of the army hugging trees.

A stirring sight.

My own useless cavalry on a forlorn journey.

Still, it was a good game but needs some tweaks, it was also good to get these visually impressive troops back on the table, so more SYW in the future I hope.

Next week it is War and Conquest against Stuart Smith's Normans with reinforcements, I have to make my mind up which army to use, Romano-British or Patrician Roman, the latter army would be a real challenge against Normans, do I feel lucky?

I have been very lax painting wise recently while waiting for my order to turn up, so I turned my attention to four tents given to me by Dan along with the three guns I recently painted up, nothing fancy but more than good enough for scatter terrain or to add depth to the camp I already have.

I have belatedly decided to get a bus pass as I get almost nothing else for my taxes, I found I had to alter the form, I am expecting it not to be approved or get a visit from the Old Bill to check my thinking.

Stuff and Partizan

 It's been a while, or it seems that way as other things like the missus and the good weather drags me away from the computer

First up games, I missed one night at the club after the What a Cowboy game and went back last night with some Italian Wars to introduce Jimi to the delights of pike warfare. I gave Jimi a small French army and I took along what I could of my Imperials with some French substitutes where needed. I kept it simple with a flat open terrain on a 6x4 table, quite small for an Italian Wars game to be honest, it is not a small game period and although I see skirmish rules for it, you are not playing Italian Wars.

I digress, as I rolled my initiative dice I found my army lacking in aggression, so the French were on me quite quickly, things were fairly even on the flanks, I won on my left and Jimi won on my right. By now the infantry had clashed in the centre and at first it looked good, my Spanish Pike even managed to halt the feared Swiss. It did not last long and just as the cavalry of both sides got into position for flank attacks my pike blocks fell apart, there was no real need to go on and as the troops take some time to put away I shook hands and congratulated Jimi. We had a couple of Hazards which thankfully had no effect on the battle, although on a larger table I could have been in trouble with my mercenaries.

Next week I am back on the Eastern Front with an early war game of Bolt Action against Simon. I have also booked a couple of games in June with Matt Crump, first up our sixth campaign game as I attack the Russian supply depot with a Panzer platoon and a game later in the month at the Dungeon. I think I am beginning to regret the use of the Panzers and should possibly held them back until game seven, but the die is cast.

I have manged a bit of painting and a resupply from TAG and Steel Fist. First up was a lovely unit of Spanish Jinette light cavalry, I will have to get some more of these, secondly I started on my second Spanish pike block, the front ranks are done and I mixed in some sword and buckler men for interest, I am now well  on with the mid/command ranks and the whole should be done in the next couple of weeks, a slight slowing down as I have my granddaughter visiting for two weeks, also I am getting some arthur itis in my hands or repetitive strain injury, whatever it is it gives me gyp during the night.

And now of course Partizan 2023, I was not going to go as I had nothing to get and the two books I wanted Duncan at Helion offered to post them out, Julian decided he was going and offered both Stuart and I a lift, so I succumbed rather than spend a lovely day in front of the computer. The weather was gorgeous and we arrived then minutes before opening, Rob was hosting a participation game on behalf of the club so we had a base of operations if required.

Well done Rob.

What a Cowboy.

Simon Miller, Ipsus.

Ditto.

Very British Civil War.

SYW.

WWII.

India?

SYW.

ACW.

Ditto.

The show is probably the best wargame show in the UK, a good balance of traders and inspirational wargames with the emphasis on the latter. The hall is large, airy and there is plenty of room despite it being busy. I had a word with the lads on the Helion stand and picked up the two books I was after having been offered a hefty discount. I caught up with several bloggers whom I know and said hello to Simon Miller and discussed his upcoming Montrose scenario book for which I drew the maps. Apart from the books I only got a couple of pieces of scatter terrain, some brushes, tufts, flowers and wire pikes, so not a bad exchange for my bottomless fiver.

I haven't seen Duncan for a while and tried to catch up last week but he was enroute to Pinewood Studios with a jeep, or rather a Russian jeep type vehicle. I popped up this morning and ran into all things Russian, he is building a Russian Humvee type vehicle on top of an old truck chassis, it looked like a lot of hard work is involved so I kept my distance. I wandered through his parking lot and took a few pics. The big Russian eight wheel APC is a brute of a thing, it doesn't actually move at the moment but it could, my favourite the German (Czech) half-track is out on a job at the moment, I really must get a ride in that one day.

So, I am up to date for now, it is my 48th wedding anniversary today and the flowers have arrived to keep the memsahib sweet, as will the meal out tonight. What a romantic.