The Gin Pit again.

 Another Sunday and once again Grange-over-Sands echoes to the thunder of cavalry, the sound of guns and the rattle of musketry, or in other words another grand Napoleonic game organised by Rob aided by Stuart. I missed the last one so was looking forward to this one.

We had a choice of multi-coloured envelopes to choose from and inside was a brief note on the game with details of your forces, I got the French, a brigade of heavy cavalry and a brigade of infantry, five battalions plus artillery, my companions were Paul, Michael and Fran, the enemy were Rob, Ed, Julian and Stuart. The game was to be a battle of attrition, the British had 886 infantry, 168 cavalry and 16 guns, the French were outnumbered with 678 infantry, 156 cavalry and 16 guns. I think up until now the French had the numbers but the lads have been busy painting more British/Allied troops. Winners would be the side with the most points for breaking the enemy or capturing objective points.

A quick conflab and Plan A was born, I asked and got the left flank as the terrain there was fairly open and I thought this would be good for my cavalry of which I expected great things. Michael was a free agent next to me, then Paul was holding a farm complex and part of the main road which were objectives and Fran on the right had the Guard, he was to deliver a right hook, hopefully get a church and the other end of the main road for an overwhelming 15 points along with knocking Julian out of the game. Simples.

Julian's lovely lancers.

British on the left, French on the right.

The cavalry arrive.

The cavalry of both armies were on the table and I set my cavalry off to demolish Ed's, they were not keen and Ed ruined my attack by a bold opening move, although he did not win he had blunted my forward squadrons. I recovered and counterattacked, this worked well and just as the enemy infantry turned up his cavalry were swept from the field. I decided against taking on the infantry and withdrew the troopers to the far left hoping at some point to get in a flank attack once they had reorganised and recovered. With my cavalry threating the Allied right and pulling away a couple of battalions I decided to overwhelm the three that were left with my infantry and set off, cautiously as it transpired. Michael's cavalry had not done well and were pulverised by Rob's horsemen, opposite Paul Stuart's cavalry had decided to ride hell for leather at the nearest enemy (a blunder) and sped towards the waiting guns and infantry, chaos and disaster followed. On the right the Scots Grays and French lancers dueled.

My cavalry.

Those lovely lancers again.

My troopers discomfited.

A very aggressive Rob had moved on Michael and I noticed a brigade of his infantry was in a position to threaten my own flank, I had to turn a couple of battalions to meet this threat, or one of them as one decided it knew best. My own attack on Ed's line was getting nowhere, the only consolation being that neither was Ed. I wandered over to the far right and although Fran seemed to have pushed forward on his right the bulk of the guard seemed static, had Julian stopped the peacocks? There was now a gap opening between myself and Paul, Michael was under severe pressure from Rob and his forces were in a mess, I now decided to stop with my useless efforts to break Ed and start to move to my right, one to support Michael and second to stop the British getting a nearby tower worth 5 points.

My infantry, some of them, advance.

Stuart's cavalry in a mad charge.

Rob and the reluctance of my brigade to move stopped this as he fell on my flank, things looked decidedly fraught and the fighting was intense, as the smoke cleared I had survived, just, and made Rob's men suffer, but they had stopped me moving toward the objective. by this time I had left one cavalry unit to continue to threaten Ed's right and brought the other two around to possibly threaten Rob's brigade but time was running out. 

My cavalry come back to support the infantry.

The struggle in the middle.

Michael under pressure.

The Guard arrives.

Another trip to the right and I saw that Fran had weathered the late arrival of Andy's Prussians and given them a bloody nose and was at last turning on Julian's flank. The battlefield between Fran and myself looked like a dreadful mess but the British were advancing, a wild cavalry charge brought the tower under British control and crushed the artillery defending it. 

The British pensive.

Rob attacks my flank.

The struggle on the French right.

More nice cavalry.

I had been holding my own up until the last turn against both Rob and Ed, I also saw an opportunity to slam a cavalry charge into one of Rob's battalions in an effort to succour my infantry and grab some points, my cavalry declined, and in fact retired from the field (the final blunder), then one after the other as Ed unleashed volleys of musketry at close range my remaining infantry fled. It was all over.

A quick count up saw the British with 130 points and the French with 127, if only my guys had just held, three points! Nonetheless, a good day with a good bunch of guys and a great game of wee sojers.

Books and an Adventure.

 The gentleman over at College of Kings is planning to do a huge battle of Pavia for the 500th anniversary in 2025 with between 2,000 to 2,500 figures on the table and he is blogging his progress, so I for one am interested. Already he is questioning the use of heavy arquebuses using forked rests which are not thought to come into favour until much later, what difference that would make in a game I don't know but one source says a shot from one could go through two men in armour. On his recommendation I bought The Battle of Pavia by Jean Giono, first printed in French in 1963, this is an excellent book and not your typical battle book. The author brings alive both Francis I and Charles V warts and all, and examines all the primary sources on the battle which he calls 'a skirmish'. My only grumble is that there is no map and this is a must to understand what is happening. It helps to find one online, of which there are many, and have it close by on your phone or tablet or check out the one on College of Kings which has obviously been drawn from the info in the book. Do not be put off by the blank cover there is treasure inside.

On the subject of books I read an article on truth by Peter Hitchens and he mentioned the effect a book written by Josephine Tey, The Daughter of Time, had on him when he was at school. It involves an infirm detective who passes his time recuperating looking at Richard III and investigating his 'crimes' from a modern (for 1951 at least) point of view. Being a big fan I dove in and got the book, it arrived today.

This week I played in a Back of Beyond game organised by Rob, he also provided everything required from his extensive collection. I commanded the bad guys for a change who consisted of all manner of cutthroats and mercenaries, gathered together to capture four spies making their way to a train station in the middle of nowhere to be rescued. A European force including British and French troops were to ensure the train made it to the station and the said spies brought home safely.

The train and escort arrive.

The spies.

I got to the station first and put my disparate groups in terrain which hid them from the oncoming train, I also had an armoured car which someone had stolen, as we waited and watched the train another armoured car approached from the east, the spies! The Westerners were a bit too keen and were taught a lesson by my renegades, in quick succession several units including a squads of Scots were gunned down, I got carried away and sent some brigands forward to occupy the station only for them to be shot in turn but some managed to retire behind a small hill. 

Woo, woo.

The sweepings of the Bazaar.

I now brought up my own armoured car while my cavalry ran too and fro not knowing where to attack, more fire was turned on the locomotive and the machine ground to a halt a short distance from the station, as the crew tried to make repairs I spotted this and shot them down. Now a hero in a red coat rode forward, jumped into the cab, released the brake, and leapt once more onto his horse. By now I had two of my hero's in the station and one giant, bald character broke cover and threw several molotov cocktails in the trains direction, whatever the timing of this attack the train stopped just a tad short of the station. The enemy armoured car was now alongside the station, my other hero made an attack and then the remnants of my earlier squad also made an attack, despite taking hits I managed to kill two of the occupants and force the others to abandon the vehicle. For a moment I managed to get someone into it despite the carnage and turn the gun on some British troops nearby, this did not last long as a flurry of grenades finally finished the tin can off.

My hero's tackle the armoured car.

Almost over as my boys close in.

Using my now overwhelming numbers I rushed the stalled train and delivered death to the British contingent, the remaining spies were given one of the horses and rode into the gathering dusk leaving behind my victorious troops ransacking the carriages. Although two of the spies made it out my desperadoes were more than happy. A great little game and a desperate struggle for the train, I have to admit that Lady Luck was more inclined towards the old Navy veteran in this tussle. I shall be back in Rob's company in Grange on Sunday for another large Napoleonic clash.

I have finished the first unit for the Imperial cavalry led by the Marquis of Mantau along with an artillery piece, I now have a second on the tray with another gun in waiting. I am making a concerted effort to finish these troops as I bit the bullet and raided the LMF in order to get two pike blocks with supporting arquebusiers, crossbowmen and sword and buckler skirmishers along with some light cavalry for the Spanish contingent of the army from The Assault Group. I suspect gathering this amount of figures will take time so I think I have a week at least, this is my first big spend this year and it will give me at least two-thirds of my planned Imperial infantry although I may add some cavalry between the pike blocks, but wait, I am getting ahead of myself. On a run to B&Q I picked up some lengths of wood and a tub of polyfilla to make some breastworks, I was planning on maybe doing it this weekend but I need to source some bases first.

I have solved my TV dilemma just as I was about to give up, Korean TV! No more searching for 45 minutes and then ten minutes of lecturing before turning off. Yes there is the odd cultural moment which surprises but overall far better than anything I have watched in ages, and it brings back memories of my trip there several years ago. I have also given 'Beef' a try, a 'comedy' which is flavour of the month at the moment (no pun intended) however just finished episode three and the shine is coming off and I have yet to laugh.

Taxi Driver.

The map front has been steady which is better than being overloaded, my name was passed to another large military publisher but I do not want to go down this route as I have enough on my plate and I do not want mapping to turn into a 'real' job. If I can keep the LMF ticking over I am happy. Some interesting projects recently with wargaming connections, Helion's upcoming book on the German Peasants War which Artizan and Steel Fist are making figures for and an upcoming scenario book for Simon Miller's 'For King and Parliament' rules called "Montrose: To Win and Lose it All" by William Linhart, Peter Page and Paul Reynolds.

Road of Slaughter.

 

German Peasants War.

Bavarian Succession.

Wellington's Unsung Heroes.

 

Montrose.

Agnadello 1509 AD

 With only a day to go before gaming the Italian Wars I wracked my brain for a decent scenario rather than our usual mirrored forces, for some reason I landed on the battle of Agdanello, France vs Venice during the War of the League of Cambrai 1508-1516 AD. To cut a long story short both armies were marching south, the French Vanguard ran into the Venetian Rearguard, the Venetians almost had the victory when the French Main Body turned up and the tables were turned, not helped by one of the Venetian commanders ignoring pleas for help and continuing his march.

I do not yet have the troops required for the battle so had to make do and so I came up with my own version of the battle. Each side had fifteen units split into three forces of five, one force for each side would already be deployed on the table, the Venetians behind a dry ditch and the French opposite, the only stipulation was that the French artillery must be deployed with this force, it also had one extra gun. The other two commands would have to throw a die from turn two, a 5 or 6 and they could enter, thereafter it would get easier by one each turn i.e. 4, 5 or 6 etc. For some daft reason we only had two command figures each instead of three, Julian's were both Bold and mine were both Rash befitting of French commanders.

French left, Venetians right.

The Venetian Rearguard.

The French Vanguard.

The Venetians started with all their pike blocks behind the ditch along with two guns, I chose my French Old Band pike, artillery, some mounted arquebusiers and a unit of Gendarmes. As the battle commenced neither of us moved and the artillery started to fire, this once again was a doomed effort for me, as even with three guns I only ever got one to fire and during the whole battle they only managed one kill, Julian did not do much better. The Venetians all turned up on turn three, a mass of cavalry, I got one of my commands which consisted of three Gendarme units some mounted crossbows and a Swiss contingent. I had planned to send the cavalry straight along the battlefield to counter the enemy horse, this was ruined by two of my Gendarme cavalry running straight for the Landsknechts and artillery behind the ditch on the Venetian right. I also cautiously sent my Vanguard cavalry towards the flanking force while turning the Old Band pike towards them as well, my gunners hauled their useless cannon around just in case.

My impetuous cavalry about to charge.

The rest of the Venetians turn up.

Ditto.

The French race to help the Vanguard.

One of the Gendarme units became disordered crossing the ditch and ploughed into the Landsknechts, to my surprise they knocked the infantry back, the other unit rode down the gunners they crashed into, these were then set upon by a second Landsknecht block and again held their own. Meanwhile one of my Swiss commands was approaching the ditch but still very slowly, thankfully the press of horseflesh on the Venetian left was proving a bit awkward in the restricted space. I did manage lose my mounted arquebusiers but their supporting Gendarmes ran over some Stradiots and into the enemy rear. Back at the main fight I lost out to the German pikes but no shame to my cavalry, the Swiss were now up and charged across the obstacle, disordered again they were pushed back by the enemy pike block, but now the Landsknechts were in the ditch, they too became disordered. The Swiss now came into their own, steadied and routed them, the Swiss now aimed for the left had pike block which my cavalry attacks had reduced by a third, I had now thrown a second cavalry unit at them.

The Swiss arrive and attack.

The Old Band pike advance with caution.

Venetian steel.

Sadly it was time to call a halt, we had been chatting and taken a break for lunch provided by my better half. From the French point of view it looked like the Swiss would hit the Landsknecht pike block while it was still in combat with the cavalry who were holding on, the Venetian pikes behind it would take at least another move or maybe two to charge into them, these guys are not overly keen to get into combat preferring the mercenaries to do most of it. Elsewhere the main Venetian cavalry wave had not yet managed to get into charge range while my line was building with two pike blocks and some heavy cavalry waiting for them. But we all know that you cannot count on anything in a wargame.

The mighty Swiss.

Make way!

The centre makes contact too late.

Nevertheless the scenario worked really well and I look forward to fighting it again. I see The Assault Group are offering 10% off orders until the 23rd April, so I am biting the bullet and ordering up enough men for possibly two Spanish infantry units and some light cavalry and another artillery piece. I am still unsettled whether to simply do the normal pike blocks or Colunela's, Yarkshire Gamer Ken kindly answered my query on how he is going to use the formation under Furioso, he has some good ideas but I think I will let Ken test it out first.

Back of Beyond with Rob next Tuesday.

The Bridge

 The rain is back, which means that my promise to give an hour of my time to the garden can safely be ignored, being an old sailor there is nothing worse than gardening for me, but I am stuck as the missus is still not 100% from her op and the estate needs looking after. How did plants manage before we humans took an interest?

Despite all the women's work, I managed to paint up my two 3D vehicles, I got the files from RKX Miniatures and my mate Stuart of Magpie Designer ships fame printed them off for me. The Flakpanzer because I cannot resist most vehicles based on the Pz38(t) chassis and the StuiG33 because it looked good and was different and the files are cheap, so a want rather than a need. I could have painted the StuiG in the later Dunkelgelb but decided as they were around late 1942 to go grey.

I took the opportunity to dig out all my AA vehicles, and saw that only two have yet to see action, the early 88 and the British Crusader, no Jabo's have yet been seen at Casa Anderson, wonder why? If anyone ever does a 1/56 Mobilwagen I might still be tempted.

Back to NW France last night at the club, the British were required to capture a bridge intact for the drive inland and 21st Panzer had to stop them. I was playing Jimi at 900 points and he brought a couple of squads of infantry plus two small veteran squads of Paras, a Sniper an MMG and a Sherman Firefly, I had four squads of infantry, a panzerschreck team a Flakpanzer 38(t) and a PzIV, I got two tank slots due to the 21st Panzer list. As the defender I also got two minefields and Jimi got a preparatory bombardment.

The objective.

What it says

The British bombardment was no hardship and although I lost one man I managed to rally the troops for turn 2. Jimi got all his people on apart from the MMG, which must have got lost and would never turn up and the Sherman which was delayed slightly. I had no problem as all my men were eager to stop the Tommy's, I hid the Flakpanzer behind a building and opened up on the courageous sniper across the river, very quickly this team bit the dust. The Sherman turned up and took its revenge, the 38(t) was immobilised and set on fire, at least it was still there, as Jimi advanced his elite squads to the bridge I moved the PzIV ever closer and raked the structure with machine gun fire.

Easy does it boys.

Here they come.

I had miscalculated and the Panzer took a 17pdr shell and went up in smoke, I had fired a panzerfaust at the Allied tank but it had bounced off. The clock was ticking so I advanced my panzerschreck towards the annoying Sherman, more misses, my Flakpanzer was being even more annoying to the British as it turned on the men around the bridge who had now come into sight. Just as I had to advance to within three inches of the bridge in order to contest the objective I threw a FUBAR and my lead squad ran away! As the British on the bridge were cut up I managed, just, to get in a position which guaranteed a draw.

End of a dream.

 

And there you have it, a good game and Jimi played it well and almost managed a very difficult task. I find that with many of the Bolt Action scenarios you can safely wait until the last couple of turns and simply swamp the objective to get a draw. In this particular scenario the bridge could have gone up at the beginning of turn 2 with the result therefore being a draw, so why bother, we didn't play it this way. I need to take a leaf out of Matt Crump's book, put more thought into the scenario and make things more realistic or with several objectives, I looked through several of the Campaign books I have and found that most are not conducive to a club evening, needing specific terrain or more time to finish than is available. The newer books, D-Day and Fortress Budapest are much better, but no good for a club night.

Talking about getting off my backside I need to look at something for tomorrow when Julian comes for some Italian Wars. I am tempted by the battle of Agnadello, but we will see. On that subject I am now painting up the two cavalry units I have in the lead pimple, I also now have the figures I need to bring Francis I to the table to lead my French. I now realise that most of the Imperial army at Pavia was in fact Spanish, I seemed to have missed that, so the next infantry will be Spanish. This gives me a headache as it is quite possible they were organised into Colunela and although I have a template, I have no idea how they would work with Furioso rules. Aaaagh!