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.

Smolensk: Barbarossa back on track

 Quite a nice day and as usual I was ensconced in the now defunct Post Office (Lancaster Council please note) to play the fifth game in our Smolensk Campaign. I decided to go out on a limb and instead of cleaning out the central tables still in the hands of the Soviets I went for their supply line at the village of Zaborye, if I can capture the village the forward Russians will be cut off and cannot use any Resource Points.

I have yet to steel myself into choosing an armoured platoon and as the terrain here is not conducive to the use of armour I only took one Panzer II for support along with an anti-tank rifle and a motorcycle recce squad. If the motorcycles enter dismounted you get a free patrol move, I planned to move forward quickly and grab as much ground as I could, in the end I managed one extra move so I got a measly two. Matt was defending and had chosen supports to pin me down, an infantry gun, heavy machine gun and two 50mm mortars giving him three altogether.

Russians on the left, Jerries on the right.

There Hans, there!

Russian defenders wait in the half light of dawn.

Matt deployed early and soon had all his forces in the woods, most on overwatch as I struggled with Plan A, things rattled along quite quickly as I tried to decide whether it was still possible for me to force his right flank. I gave up with this idea and as I had two Chain of Command dice I conjured up a cunning plan for which I needed a double move. Russian mortar fire up till now had been mainly ineffectual apart from sending my anti-tank rifle running for cover. I had now brought all my troops on to the table and had moved my attack to the Russian left, my boys waited with bated breath to unleash hell, my little tank had again decided to play cautiously and barely moved into first gear, but it was getting closer and the 20mm autocannon would have to hit at some point.

Soviet festung.

The little tank.

My left flank, hold, hold.

And then I got it, a double move, the whistles blew and the troops leapt forward to the edge of the wood as I cancelled all the Soviet overwatch tokens before opening up. A deadly duel now transpired between both groups in their respective woodland. I was now able to bring my own mortar into action and at last the tank was making headway. The Soviet fire was not as successful as it could have been although my motorcyle troops were taking a beating and their shock was climbing. As the fight continued several Russian NCO's fell and the heavy machine gun along with the infantry gun and a squad broke. Soviet morale plummeted, as the light fell 3rd Panzer took possession of Zaborye.

The left still waiting.

The battle in the woods.

The Panzer II moves at last.

This game lasted longer than our last one, I actually made an attempt to attack the Russian position albeit carefully, I had expected a Russian tank hence the AT rifle, but nothing turned up so I wasted three valuable Resource Points on it. I think we now both have one point left until Game Seven, so the cutting of the supply line is not going to hurt for the moment the Russians in the Yartsevo Pocket. Matt had some bad luck with losing several NCO's and his shooting could have been better, my own was not much better (40 dice and no kills) but the loss of the officers and the support teams took his morale down to 1 and the sheer volume of fire ate away at the Russian units. At the end of the day we both enjoyed the game and look forward to the next one.

Before this I played two skirmish games at the club, I cannot remember the name of the first which was a Dark Age combat with me as the Saxon's and Stuart as the Vikings, I had ten men and Stuart had seven. I won the first game and lost the second, so honours were even, as you know I prefer battles with hundreds of figures so a big change for me, even Dux Britanniarum had about 40. No matter it was good of Stuart to put up with me for a night. The second was Kill Team, and yes there were gasps as the troops turned up to see me sitting there again, there were no historical games at all last night. Simon was the host this time and ran two games. I as Space Marines was up against some kind of Imperial Guard, six men vs ten, it was fast and furious although I was never quite sure I was playing it right, I am sure there is a lot of nuance in the game but you won't cotton on after just one game. Jimi's poor guard were simply targets for my superior warriors and they were massacred to the last man. Again thanks to Simon for an entertaining evening.

Saxons.

Vikings.

Kill Team.

Jimi wondering where all his men went.

However, I have learned that these games are just not for me, rightly or wrongly I see them as more games than wargames, they can be complex, for that read beyond my ken, and need an investment in time to learn and I just do not have that. Yes I know that Chain of Command and Bolt Action are skirmish games, but they seem like more and I can identify with them.

And now back to the Italian Wars, I have at last finished the French commander, King Francis I, it is unusual for me to leave the leader so long before he joins the army. I have based my version on Massimo Predonzani's painting in Helion's Vol. 3 on the battle of Pavia, why Francis flew France Ancient and not France Modern in 1525 I know not, but it looks better anyway. Also around the same time I completed a second Imperial unit of men-at-arms and an artillery piece.

 The Assault Group came through with my next phase of the Imperial army, the Spanish additions. First up is a Spanish pike block, the front ranks are done and I have mixed in some sword and buckler men to make them stick out from all my other pike blocks. Another week should see these done and I will move on to some arquebusiers then Jinette light cavalry before getting back to pikes.

I was going to do a bit on why should I bother continuing to blog, there are few other things I am streamlining as I settle into retirement, possibly mapping or the amount I am doing as well, but it will have to wait until I give it some more thought. At the very least I may be cutting down on the number of posts. I also continue to look for a decent cave in which to hide from the modern world.