New Rules and Italian Wars

 First visit to the club in a while and an introduction to the much touted Chain of Command 2. I had planned a 1v1 game against Mike who had not played before but somewhere along the line we ended up in a 2v2 game of Big Chain of Command, something I had not played before. 

Stuart had sorted out a Normandy game where the British were attacking a German position, we all had a platoon each along with supports, I chose a Priest, a model I have had for a long time but like many it has never fired in anger. My thoughts were that the Jerries would not have enough points for anything like a dangerous tank so the artillery would sort out their infantry. I had the right wing and headed for the objective in the village church, sure enough there were only German infantry in front of me and one squad found themselves in the open as they made for some cover. I brought on the Priest and gave them a fright, I didn't kill many but their Shock rose considerably and they bolted back into the church.

The British are coming!

At last I get it on the table.

Jerries hiding from the Priest.

Paul on my left was the target of most of the German support, medium machine guns and a 'door knocker' Pak 36, he had a Sherman and it tried to hide from the little anti-tank gun as the Steilgranate round could potentially knock it out. The British did well with extra phases and these allowed me to make it to the bocage hedges on the outskirts of the village while the Priest continued to rain down fire on the defenders, German morale took some hits and began to fall. We had to call a halt as time was up and it looked like only a matter of time before a British victory would be sealed.

What did I think, well the game was fine as a learning tool but too big for a club game at this stage as we checked the book on several occasions and poor Mike simply looked lost, I remember my first game and I know how he felt. There are a lot of little changes and overall I think they will make for a much better and more dynamic game. To get the best from the game you need to commit 100%, it is not the kind of game you throw down when you have a couple of spare hours, the myriad decisions and uses of the Command points are vital to winning as well as enjoying the challenge. I have another game set for this coming Tuesday at the club against Rob, Soviets vs Germans.

I do have to say that I am not totally sold on the new army lists, there have been some changes, especially to the Soviets but having researched the Russians and Volksgrenadiers for my own platoons I would prefer to use my own. However for now I will toe the line and see how it goes.

My third game now that I am back in the swing of things, Italian Wars and the battle of Ceresole. Now I have fought this battle a couple of times, the main reason is because it is fairly easy to do and the forces are almost on a par. A couple of points about the terrain, I have not added the low hill around Cascini Alfiere because it was not an obstacle to line of sight, you can check on Google maps but best of all friend Simon Miller has been there and assured me the French guns would not have been impeded by the 'rise'. I also substituted a small field for the fish ponds, I don't have anything suitable and this was the right size.

The battle opened with the French left advancing rapidly while I held my right back, I moved my own left forward albeit tardily to keep away from the fish ponds and possible disorder, Charles also was a bit reluctant to move his right forward. I did not do will in the exchange of fire despite outnumbering the French in shot troops and failed to shoot away their skirmishers, although the Italians in the woods on the French right stayed put in safety for the duration of the battle. 

Ceresole.

 

Swiss at the ready.

Imperials on the left, French on the right.

Imperial left flank.

The first clashes came on my right as my light cavalry were pushed back and my skirmishers rode down, I did manage to meet a large Swiss pike block with my Spanish/German pike, my troops put up a brave fight but in the end they were dispersed, my whole right flank had gone. Meanwhile on my left I eventually managed to circumvent the fish pond and hit a French pike block, this time my luck changed and although knocked back my men found fresh reserves of courage and threw their opponents back disordered. At the same time a force of Gendarmes did what Gendarmes do and hit another Landsknecht unit head on, again after a bit of a fright my numbers told as the cavalry here also fell back disordered.

My left advances.

The centre and my left.

Looking good.

The end.

At this point we called it a day, both sides had been successful on their respective left flanks and the French were beginning to reorganise to take on the Imperial left, what would have happened, who knows. The French still had their Swiss and another large mixed pike block and several Gendarme units against three Imperial pike units some skirmishers but no cavalry.

We had some fun, it takes time to get to grips with Furioso but when you do you can never take things for granted in the melees due to the combat morale part of the fight. I was lucky to hold on as Charles' die rolling was quite exceptional up until the last couple of turns. I still have some work to do with the rules but I do enjoy them, I just need to play them more and get things sorted in my head.

I have managed to get some painting done in between map work and might have another vexillation finished by next weekend hopefully. I now have to choose an ACW scenario to play against Matt Crump on Tuesday when I introduce him to JR2, that same evening I shall be playing Chain of Command at the club so might need some R&R on Wednesday. I wanted to push my luck and get something for Thursday afternoon but I lost that fight.

I have had my first yearly meeting to review my health and overall it is all positive, I have been treated fairly quickly and my only gripe is that the admin side of things take forever, instead of results in two weeks it takes five, or more. I cannot fault the people at the coal face.