Not an April Fool

I didn't get to the club again last week as mate Robert was in the area and instead I met up for a couple of beers and to put the wargaming world to rights, we managed this in only a  couple of hours. I only had one game organised and that was a Seven Years War bash with Ian here in the Bunker. I have quite a nice collection of SYW figures in 28mm, but know almost nothing about the period, so why do I have eight brigades covering the British and French, it seemed like a good idea at the time, so the defence rests.

Anyway I asked ChatGPT for some ideas and tweaked 'The Supply Train' scenario it came up with both sides need supplies and there is a cache between the lead elements of both armies, represented by a wagon train, best not to think too much about it. Ian arrived and chose the French and got one Ditherer, one Dependable and two Rash commanders, I got two Ditherers a Rash and a Dependable. Ian took an aggressive stance and threw his infantry forward very quickly to grab the supply train and occupy two 'villages' while waiting for his cavalry and artillery to turn up. My right and centre were true to form and failed to move and meet the French advance, my cavalry turned up very early and I put them on my left to hopefully get into the French rear and cause mayhem, my artillery were right behind them and I placed it to fire on the village between my right and centre.

Table set for battle.

British forces.

French forces.

I was happy enough to hold on my right once in musket range and did the same in the centre, I was having no luck at all moving the Royal Scots from the nearest village so instead concentrated on the Germans and Irish who had captured, for now, the supplies. The French cavalry and artillery had now turned up and we were set for a clash of horse, the terrain was more open on my left than the French right so if they won I could be in trouble. The British cavalry proved to be more than a match for their opponents and won a spectacular victory and sent the enemy packing. 

The French approach the prize.

British horse turn up.

French Guard.

French cavalry advance.

On the infantry front I managed to put in some effective fire on the French and as some of their battalions withdrew I managed to keep up a concentrated fire on the ones still in line, I had some of my own units pull back as well but I managed to keep the pressure on. Slowly but surely more French units fled and the remainder were now under a hail of fire. I pulled my left back slightly as I was having no effect on the Guard in the village and instead shot at their supports. Another turn brought the French to within one point of their army breaking, we called it a day and shook hands.

Cavalry melee.

French mercenaries under pressure.

British left open up.

French centre falters.

Die rolling on both sides was pretty steady and casualties mounted quickly, I think I just had the edge hence the enemy routs and my own troops managed to withdraw and return to the fray. I did extremely well with the cavalry melees, the artillery on both sides was fairly useless as they tried to get open fields of fire and generally failed. So in the end a good days wargaming and a nice turn out for the SYW collection. 

I see no French cavalry.

French hold on the supplies withers.

Victory, we will eat tonight.

With some spare time I turned to painting up the houses and terrain that Matt Smith had sent me, I used spray paint for most of it and then a bit of weathering to finish off, I was very happy with the result although I may return to the weathering. I would think this lot has now completed my terrain requirements and my tables will get the benefit, maybe some small hedges and that's it.

 We had a new lad join the club FB page and asked if there were any Bolt Action players, so I offered a game last night as I was free, Steve had not played in a while and we settled on a Germans vs British game of 750 points, I would bring the British. I settled on three small squads, a MMG, a Cromwell and a Humber armoured car. I met Steve outside the club waiting for the club to open and after looking in my box he declared he had not brought a tank or anti-tank weapons, knife to a gunfight popped into my mind. He was relying on close assaulting any British vehicles which turned up but I doubt he expected an actual tank, he had four squads of infantry, two in halftracks and a mortar. We found a Pz IV and a Puma in the games cupboard but he decided not to take them, I did ask three times if he was sure.

Germans left, British on the right.

Cromwell.

I set up a simple game with three objective markers and off we went, Steve kept his halftracks in reserve while I kept the tank and MMG back. The infantry soon came into range and bullets flew, I took heavy casualties in the centre with a squad cut down to two men and I lost the MMG. I did push on the flanks and the armoured car was on my left and helped secure that objective, I brought the Cromwell on in the centre and Steve's plan to rush the tank collapsed as I took out the first halftrack and shot up the passengers who then made a brave attempt to get into contact with the armour but were wiped out to a man. The second halftrack turned up and although it managed to survive it's passengers suffered as they tried to grab the centre objective.

Humber.

Ooops.

In the end Steve had put up a good fight despite having no armour, he also had some bad luck with the dice just when he didn't need it, he almost took the crown from 'Lucky' Jimi. My bad luck of course is waiting for my next Chain of Command game.

I have some time on my hands now that I am not painting anything and have finished most of the little bits and pieces which were gnawing at me. The Atlas author is also very quiet. So I have decided to look at writing my own mini campaign of five or six games, it will be based on 6th Panzer Division's actions during Operation Winter Storm and their Panzer Recce Battalion will be the main force used, I have lots of German Recce options and it's about time they were on the table. I have tracked down information for December 1942 for the Jerries and next week will look at the Soviets. I have also identified the actions which will make up the campaign, I now need to put some meat on the bones.

I should be off to Penrith and the Dungeon tomorrw, next week I am joining Stuart in the medieval skirmish game Ecorcheurs set during the Hundred Years War, not sure if I can fit anything else in at the moment.

I have just finished the excellent Rasputin by Antony Beevor, if you ever needed confirmation that those in charge are idiots, this confirms it, sadly it led to utter chaos for Russia and subsequently for the rest of us.

I have now started a bit of light reading, Virgil's Aenied, at least some Trojans got away. Ignore the bloody horse! 

Ups and Downs

I had thought my wargaming was going to slow down but it hasn't, so three recent battles to showcase. I was at the club again this week and was showing 'Lucky' Jimi what War and Conquest was all about, I think he felt sorry for me as I continually moan about not enough games of my second favourite game. Anyway I brought along Thrax and his boys and more Barbarians, I offered Jimi a choice of sides and he took the Romans, both armies were infantry as I did not want to complicate the game by introducing the different cavalry and their styles of fighting.

 

The Barbarians attack.

  

Steady boys, steady.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clash of arms

We lined up and off we went, I simply went straight for the Roman line hoping to knock a few of the cohorts out before I was flanked as Jimi had one more battle formation than me. I hit the Roman left and the routed Auxiliaries took their skirmishers along with them, this time I caught the routers and that was one down four to go. Jimi got the drop on me and hit my centre warbands while I left my last one to threaten his right as he hesitated. Numbers told in the end and the Roman centre lost one unit while another was in trouble. Jimi now turned a cohort to hit my winning warband in the flank but I got in first and hit his Lanciarii, before his legionaries could take advantage of his formation change the Lanciarii broke and ran. The Germans had won.

It was good to take the troops to the club but there was not a lot of interest shown as everyone else was busy. I enjoyed the game albeit it was a 'training' bash and I think Jimi also enjoyed it, his reputation for desperate dice did manage to turn up at awkward times but at others he pulled off some nice throws.

Matt Crump was back from his European battlefield and Museum trip so we played out the second game of our Gembloux Gap campaign. Matt had withdrew from the first clash and was again attempting to push the French from the village of Perbais. Although the Jerries got extra support points for their second attempt I felt fairly confident as we set about the Patrol Phase. I was taken by surprise and failed miserably with this, so much so that my Jump Off Points ended up pretty useless for me, even as a defender, Matt had managed to get a couple right on my flank.

Plan A.

 

Ooops, Plan B then.

 

Mortar incoming!

The Germans close in.

 I held back most of my infantry but did take cover in a couple of buildings, before this however I had put down my rifle grenadiers to cover a dangerous Gemans JOP but within minutes Matt had wiped them out, the morale loss hurt me and and I fell from 11 to 8 as the team broke and the leader was killed. I used a Shabby Nazi Trick to close off one of the JOP's and covered another from a nearby house, this forced Matt to advance across mainly open ground. I had been busy moving my armour, an R35, up the road to get into a firing position, it managed it and as it settled down to wreak havoc on the Boche Matt managed to blow it up with his infantry gun. 

After that I decided to try and inflict some damage but that plan didn't work out either, Matt dropped a mortar barrage which in the end did no significant damage to my guys but anywhere I did manage to pop my head out was covered by the infantry gun, an off table MMG and German infantry, my morale fell to 3. It was all up for the French, I had been outplayed and sent packing, well done Matt. Due to the difference in morale and the fact I only gave two of his guys a headache Matt hardly suffered at all. I think next time will be a trip to the Dungeon.

Two days later it was Seven Years War and a game with Ian, I asked Chat GPT for an idea and it gave me the bones of a scenario, nothing fancy, a meeting engagement and although the objectives were to capture the ridges held by the other side it would be down to who was left standing. Ian took the French and I was the British, for ever looking over my shoulder to see if the council would be hammering at the door to take my Union flags.

 I got two Dithering commanders and one Reliable, my cavalry turned up with a Dashing leader, Ian also had two dopes, one Dashing and his cavalry was Reliable, the CinC can be used to make one poor commander reliable and we both did that. Ian's Dashing fellow was in the centre and I hoped he would advance quickly into the waiting muskets of my centre, he did but it took time. 

British left flank.

French left.

The battle begins.

I advanced my left fairly quickly and the French opposite also came on in the grand manner, my centre advanced to the stream and halted, the troops there came under artillery fire but they weathered it well, my right slowly advanced through the wood on that side of the battlefield and I was happy for the French to attempt to get to grips with that brigade. I was hoping I would win elsewhere and then claim victory. My artillery now played on the French centre and they were devastating, causing battalions to retreat and disrupt Ian's advance. On his right however he reached the stream and charged across it, my boys stood and their crashing volleys caused mayhem in the ranks of the Irish and German mercenaries, routing some and causing others to fall back.

Battle commences.

The British cavalry triumphant.

The French right in trouble.

The magnificent Royal Artillery.

 Ian eventually managed to get some troops up to engage my centre at the stream but once again my artillery chased some of them away, my infantry then stood up manfully and put the rest to flight, although I had by now lost two battalions.

The French left with nothing happening.

The French centre collapses.

The French left also collapses.

Earlier in the game the cavalry reserves of both sides had turned up, Ian again being aggressive and throwing them across the stream, one squadron charging some infantry and the other being charged by my cavalry. This was a disaster for the French as the infantry volleys put paid to one squadron and my cavalry routing another. After this I sent my cavalry to the left flank as a large gap had opened in the enemy line and I wanted to take advantage of it. On my right I kept my boys in the wood while the French commander there was having a dreadful time inspiring his brigade to move forward. By this stage the French were close to breaking point and were not in a good position so Ian handed over his sword.

I know someone has to do it but it is not easy attacking in Honours of War, add this to the fact my shooting dice, especially the artillery were extremely good and you have a recipe for disaster. It was a good fight and nice to see the SYW back on the field of battle, and no knock from the council.

 I picked up the new car a week ago and promptly got lost after leaving the showroom, finding myself in darkest Lancashire along a country lane which was flooded, this necessitated a U-turn on a road not much bigger than my wargame table with other irate drivers to my rear. Obviously there is more to the story but I won't bore you with it. It has taken us several calls to BMW and looking at videos on YouTube to work out the tech on the thing. Remember when you got the key and off you went.

 I know the world is mad and I generally just shake my head these days but the fact that NATO have issued guidance on using words which offend, offend who by the way, like airman, serviceman and anything else which mentions the overwhelming majority of people in the armed forces of the organisation. I had just got over this when I found out that the MOD have decided RAF vegans, all 7 of them, can have vegan uniforms instead of the normal ones. And they expect our enemies to take us seriously. 

Still awaiting scans.

 Oh, I nearly forgot, I have now had, thanks to some bots, over a million views, did I mention that before? 

AI is taking over.

 Jimi and Simon asked me to join in a Dead Mans Hand game at the club, I was happy to do so as my wife was having some friends round for dinner. Now before we go any further here is a big reveal, I am impressed with ChatGPT, now I may be coming late to the party here as I usually spurn modern 'rubbish', but it now joins my hobby as a very useful tool. My son uses it for his work and on a whim and a day before the club game I asked it to give me a scenario for a three player game set in the Old West. Up popped an excellent, well thought out game for a shoot out, and what's more it asked if I wanted to print off special cards and did I require a map?

I was like a kid in a candy store, next up was a WWII platoon level scenario then a Seven Years War battle involving three brigades a side, I had such a game coming up on Friday and although I tweaked the robot's forces a tad I went for it.

Firstly though, in the Cowboy game I was once again the Mexicans as there just happened to be a gang from south of the border down Juarez way, the objective was a large crate in the middle of town which had to be grabbed, opened and hauled away. Jimi was a bunch of cutthroats, Simon deserters from the 7th Cavalry, I figured I could take a chance and just run straight for the crate as the troopers were only armed with carbines and had one shot per turn, Jimi was basically hiding from Simon around the Undertakers large house. I had not figured on Simon's deadly dice, he shot Jimi up and then turned on me, Fat Pedro with the shotgun was a big disappointment (again) and he failed to clear the way, quickly my compadres hit the dust joining quite a few of Jimi's men. Jimi and I now hoped that the crate booby trap would blow the Yankees away but it failed and the troopers had the win. A thumbs up for the robot, now if only it could do something for my dice.

At this point I still have some men.

The Seven Years War scenario had a village in the centre of the table and a large hill nearby as objectives, there was early morning fog as both sides groped towards each other, seemed fine to me. Ian arrived having not played Honours of War before and took the French as he was sat next to them as we chatted and had a coffee before starting. I had the edge having played quite a few games and thus knew I would need my artillery to either defend or attack the village as infantry would have a hard job doing it and deployed accordingly, to support this effort I put my best brigade with the grenadiers on their left. My small cavalry force was also on the left, on my right I had two brigades which I hoped would run pell mell for the hill.

French line.

British line.

British army.

French army.

Ian advanced a lot quicker than me and managed to get a brigade up to the village and his Garde de Francais to occupy it. My centre had a dithering commander and I managed to keep throwing an awful lot of one's and found it difficult to coordinate my forces on the right, so then decided to just hold and ready my boys for the French onslaught. I had more success on my left, my artillery were exceptionally good and casualties mounted on the Garde while my grenadiers led my attack on Ian's right, quality won out and after some time the village was evacuated and the French brigade cut to pieces. On my right Ian had pushed his brigades into the teeth of British musketry and for a moment the result could have gone either way, but in the end the steady fire of the redcoats decimated the Irish, Scots, Germans and French opposite them. What happened to the cavalry, the enemy squadron on my left were sent packing and the one on my right never managed to get in on the fight, terrain and circumstances being against them.

The Garde retreats and reforms.

Irish, Scots and Germans move up.

The French left in disarray.

Firefight on British right.

The village is cleared.

 

Once again it was nice to get these troops back on the table, the rules are not complicated and may be too simple for afficionados of the SYW but they suit me. Ian was at a disadvantage this being his first game but I am sure things will play differently next time.

My days are flying past at the moment, my presence seemingly being required here there and eveywhere, or it seems that way at least, it is no fun getting old. Club Tuesday, not sure what I am doing or if I am actually going. The coming week will be busy, three games here in the Bunker, Chain of Command Wednesday and Thursday then a large ACW campaign game on Sunday.

Still plugging away with the Roman cavalry, though due to the rain over the weekend I have managed to get them 85% done, probably finish the riders today and have them all mounted and based in the next couple of days. Next up is the last legionary vexillation, this should complete the army but I have enough odd figures to do another close order unit of auxilliary's or lanciarii, not sure. I have a mad urge to finish off with another cavalry and skirmish unit. We will see how I feel.

I am just catching up with all the map work I have, although a couple of projects still linger unfinished. Next week it is the Royal Irish Regiment in Afghanistan, at the siege of Musa Qal'eh in 2006.

On the subject of books, yep, the Malta fiasco has gone, the actual siege seems to have been an afterthought and not the focus of the book. I am on a political book at the moment but am just about ready to get back to normal, Max Hastings' Sword (beach) is waiting in the wings. It has been a good week also for wargaming publications and having influential friends in the hobby (tongue firmly in cheek). First up was a freebie from Simon Miller, a follow up to the Montrose book, secondly a copy of the new Warlord Italian Wars supplement to their Pike & Shotte rules, delivered personally by the author Charles Singleton, look out for names being dropped. Both of these are excellent productions.

Carnforth at least still has pride in Mr. Churchill, during a 1940's weekend this gentleman was very popular photographers.