Saturday, February 21

New range of 15mm Marlburian figures..

Always good news to see a new range of figures come out, especially in a period that "isn't quite so main stream as the others (discuss)" ..

Either way, I saw this on the excellent Wargame News and Terrain Blog [clicky] (which, by the way, is a far nicer place to learn about new ranges/models/terrain and scenery from than TMP..)

 

Very nice I thought... they have the look of the Black Hat figures and I was much taken with the infantry marching figure..

So I hot footed it to their web site [clicky] and have ordered enough for a battalion - I shall report further with initial impressions of the figures, size comparisons etc. when said figures arrive

Price'wise they are 31p/figure - packs of 8 for £2.50 - Warrior are still the cheapest of those I have in the collection/project, these fit (price'wise) mid-table..

NB. the following were correct as of the beginning December '14 when I last checked....





pence per figure ('ish) Regiment of 24
Minifigs 8 figures for £3.25 0.41 £9.75
Warrior 12 figures for £2.50 0.21 £5.00
Roundway 8 figures for £2.00 0.25 £6.00
Dixon 10 figures for £3.50 0.35 £8.40
Essex 8 figures for £3.30 0.41 £9.90
Black Hat 10 figures for £2.50 0.25 £6.00
Freikorps** 8 figures for £2.70 0.34 £8.10

** from their SYW series

Monday, February 16

Annexation of Chiraz - Game #5 - The Defence of Cressay - Game - Part 2

...and so to more pleasant matters than the previous post (for which apologies but they got my goat!), namely a conclusion to the game .. 

...you may remember that at the end of the last post (ha..  a Freudian slip perhaps?? ) on the battle, we had left the game at a slightly parlous stage for the French/defenders/me...

...after a good start where I'd 'tonked' the Allied assault columns very nicely (and which we shall call, rather grandly, "stage 1"), DG had sent his forces over the top of the hill to his right, in a partial envelopment with far more success ("stage 2")...

...the following is taken at the end of "stage 2" - my cavalry has departed the field - you can see my cuirassiers charging off through the village with DG's Austrian heavies following up -  he has his other cavalry pinning two of my infantry battalions, and his artillery on the hill has started to pound mine with some success...  the one bright spot for me is that I have 'seen off' the Dutch Rechteren regiment (blue flag white cross) but having done that, I now need to get the regiment that did it (Nivernais, in the foreground with their backs to us) back in line before those Allied assault columns take them in the flank..


...and so on with the game, and in retrospect this was the end of "stage 2" - we are about to start "stage 3" (forsooth)....

Almost immediately I started withdrawing my flank on Nivernais pulling them back so as to be at right angles to the wall (see following a few moves later)...in the meanwhile DG has rallied Rechteren only to see Lord North and Grey's Regiment turn tail (red flag, white outlined cross)

High water mark of the Allied attack

DG has launched the assault column over the hill (Goor in advance followed by Derring's) while bringing his cavalry back on to the other hill - those two cavalry units of DG's had pinned my entire flank for almost all the game, so something (eventually) had to be done in order to allow me to reinforce the other flank in the face of the attacking column..

Advancing both my battalions in line towards the cavalry I sought to bring them within musket range - DG kept retiring, but in the end resolute musketry was enough to see the Austrian Cuirassiers off.

Cadogan's - DG's other cavalry unit - attempted to melee but were again and again held from closing by more musket fire and after the Austrians were gone were faced by two infantry battalions.The writing for them was also on the wall, and they too broke (see following)....



So from a position of some concern at this stage I was relatively happy - just the assault column to fight off, which, with effective artillery fire, I finally managed to do - but not before I'd had to reinforce my centre with the reserves (Navarre) - at this point (following) the break point was reached for the Allies, and DG gracefully conceded...


Post match analysis:
  • A decisive French victory - I held both bridges at the end of the game and had not met my army break point. I have to admit to a palpable sense of relief as at the end of the first part of the game I though DG had me...
  • Game was played via Skype using a new HD quality web cam which originally I had mounted on a 6 foot pole (for a better/bigger view), but which for the second game I mounted on my camera tripod - much more flexible and a much better solution - DG advised that the view was good, and we paused often for close up on specific parts of the battlefield..
  • The game took about 7 hours all told
  • DG was of the view that this is a difficult battle to win given the table set up and the purely nominal increased OOB as attacker - I would agree that the large gap in the hill line is a powerful attraction, and we have agreed to play the game again, but this time reversing the positions (so I will attack)....
  • ..and so the Campaign draws to a close...   thoughts....
    • we started in September 2013, but DG and I don't get to play many games face to face and the third game, which we played via Battle Chronicler [clicky], took at least 6 months of last year....  
    • there are five linked games in the campaign and we used the stand alone options purely because tracking casualties over 16 months was too complicated... 
    • in terms of scenario types the first game was an attack on a fortified building (the arsenal), game two was a river crossing, game three was a capture the bridge scenario, and games four and five repeated the first and third games.. I think we had some good games, some of which were close, but I'd say that the scenario repetition was a shame....
    • the back story was fairly imagination (which I'll admit is not my cup of tea) and irrelevant on the whole 
    • Overall 7 out of 10 - but not as good in my view as the first one (the Raid on St Michel)..

Final butchers bill as follows:

Country Unit Type Unit Name SP SP 
left
MP
French Cavalry Souastre 5 0 5
Bavarian Hvy Cavalry Arco 5 3 5
French Infantry Bearn 5 5 5
French Infantry Navarre 5 5 5
French Infantry Toulouse 5 1 5
French Infantry Nivernais 5 5 5
French Infantry Royal Italien 5 0 5
French Artillery Medium Artillery 5 2 5
Country Unit Type Unit Name SP SP 
left
MP
Allies Cavalry Schomberg 5 0 5
Allies Cavalry Cadogan 5 5 5
Allies Hvy Cavalry Alt-Hanover Cuirassiers 5 5 5
Allies Infantry North and Grey 5 5 5
Allies Infantry Dering 5 2 5
Allies Infantry Goor 5 5 5
Allies Infantry Beinheim 5 0 5
Allies Infantry Rechteren 5 2 5
Allies Infantry Sturler 5 4 5
Allies Artillery Medium Artillery 5 5 5

Tuesday, February 10

Taste... and the lack of it....

Sometimes you really, really, have to wonder whatever was going on in the mind of the wargamer idiot who came up with this one....


"We have put together an ISIS pack at a special price of $25.00 USD for ten miniatures (a $30.00 USD value)."

What a plank... In what kind of hellish alternative reality does someone think, "I know what - I'll release a range of murdering terrorists for gaming purposes - it's just what the world is missing...."

What next for this range, a Jordanian pilot in a cage perhaps??  How about a few decapitated Japanese/British/name your nationality, hostages as victory markers?? I know what, how about a body being thrown off a building?? 

Words fail me..... and my fellow gamers wonder why people think we are weird...

Sunday, February 8

Annexation of Chiraz - Game #5 - The Defence of Cressay - Game - Part 1

..and so on to the game which was played out in two parts via Skype - just as a reminder here's the table (below) from a slightly different angle.

We diced before the game started for sides, DG won and chose to attack as the Allies.
 
As a further reminder the Allied entry is bottom right.. As the French, I took the decision to deploy fairly close to the village rather than further out, in a broadly L shaped disposition matching the line of houses. The main approach was clear to see, so I deployed my artillery behind the wall you can see in front of the nearest house.


DG bought his troops on in 3 columns to support his plan which was to attack through the gap with his infantry, and with the remaining infantry and his artillery immediately to their right. The cavalry were going to the far right flank by the barn.

In the following the main attack can be seen in two columns approaching the gap - to their right the cavalry brigade lead, following by the remaining infantry/artillery. I had deployed my cavalry in column thinking DG would attack down that flank - so I'm already having second thoughts!


A few moves later (following), and DG's main infantry force has deployed for attack - in the distance his cavalry are also deployed - at this stage (the first stage) things are going well for me as I start pounding his infantry with my artillery (I fired seven times and didn't miss once - the dice gods were definitely on my side!) but I have also bought Royal Italien out (in line) in case. You'll note my cavalry is in transit!


A few more moves later (four or five) and in the following the next stage of the battle has started.. having given DG's main infantry assault a right thumping they had withdrawn (in a couple of cases with seriously depleted strength) his next assault is shaping up.

Stirler's (Swiss) and Rechteren (Dutch) are facing off my cavalry (Souastre) and the Royal Italien on the hill... Shortly after this Stirler's made the mistake of charging Souastre, but were very badly handled and sent bundling, before having the same done to them by Schomberg's when DG bought his cavalry up in support....


A few moves later though and it is clear DG is making progress - he's clearing the hill nicely - Sousatre has now routed, I've bought up the Bavarians to cover the gap..


In the following, busy move!
  • DG's artillery has opened counter battery fire (yellow shaken pin on mine), 
  • in return I have sent Rechteren packing (red pin) following a well timed bayonet charge by Nivernais...  
  • Ominously, though, DG has managed to regather the reins in the centre and things are beginning to look hard pressed.
  • So I have ordered Navarre (my reserve) forward to the centre - you can just see them crossing the bridge..


...at which point, it being late, we went in for tea [ckicky].. more anon, but in the meanwhile here is the butchers bill to date..

Country Unit Type Unit Name SP SP 
left
MP
French Cavalry Souastre 5 0 5
Bavarian Hvy Cavalry Arco 5 3 5
French Infantry Bearn 5 5 5
French Infantry Navarre 5 5 5
French Infantry Toulouse 5 1 5
French Infantry Nivernais 5 5 5
French Infantry Royal Italien 5 0 5
French Artillery Medium Artillery 5 2 5
Country Unit Type Unit Name SP SP 
left
MP
Allies Cavalry Schomberg 5 0 5
Allies Cavalry Cadogan 5 5 5
Allies Hvy Cavalry Alt-Hanover Cuirassiers 5 5 5
Allies Infantry North and Grey 5 5 5
Allies Infantry Dering 5 2 5
Allies Infantry Goor 5 5 5
Allies Infantry Beinheim 5 0 5
Allies Infantry Rechteren 5 2 5
Allies Infantry Sturler 5 4 5
Allies Artillery Medium Artillery 5 5 5

Wednesday, February 4

Annexation of Chiraz - Game #5 - The Defence of Cressay - Set Up

First game of the year for DG and I, albeit by Skype.. 😏

..in this scenario, the fifth in the campaign, an Allied force has arrived to try and take the two bridges in the town of Cressay, and bring the campaign to a triumphant end. The French of course will be trying to stop them..

Previous battles can be found here:
OOB:

As attckers the Allies have an extra infantry battalion, and an extra regiment of horse..

Country Unit Type Unit Name SP MP
French Cavalry Souastre 5 5
Bavarian Hvy Cavalry Arco 5 5
French Infantry Bearn 5 5
French Infantry Navarre 5 5
French Infantry Toulouse 5 5
French Infantry Nivernais 5 5
French Infantry Royal Italien 5 5
French Artillery Medium Artillery 5 5
Country Unit Type Unit Name SP MP
Allies Cavalry Schomberg 5 5
Allies Cavalry Cadogan 5 5
Allies Hvy Cavalry Alt-Hanover Cuirassiers 5 5
Allies Infantry North and Grey 5 5
Allies Infantry Dering 5 5
Allies Infantry Goor 5 5
Allies Infantry Beinheim 5 5
Allies Infantry Rechteren 5 5
Allies Infantry Sturler 5 5
Allies Artillery Medium Artillery 5 5

Set up notes:
    • Allied entry is bottom corner, French/defenders deploy 'behind' the red line; for the French hidden deployment is allowed (but not used for this game, but if they were, use the usual methods i.e.. map where units are, reveal when they could be seen etc..)

    • It’s a 6’ x 4’ table and we used our usual WSS rules (a modification of the Will McNally AWI rules - details on my project page [clicky])
    • Both sides can deploy on to the table in any formation they prefer - the French may start the game inside the buildings if so preferred. 
    • Woods are 'open'; all hills are 'gentle'; the river not crossable except at the bridges (which are wide enough for one base width column); houses will hold one unit each/the church will take two
    Winning conditions:

    The winning side needs to ‘hold’ both bridges at the end of the game - hold meaning that both ends of the the bridge are controlled. If  each side only holds one bridge then it is a draw.
    In the last game DG came up with a 'hideously complex formula' (trademark DG ) for working out the end of the game and it worked so well I thought we'd use it (slightly modified) in this game as well - in fact, I think the army breakpoint rule works so well it could feature permanently...
        • Game ends when at the end of a Turn one side
        • 1] Has 68%* + losses (that is the Allies have 16SP left; the French have 13SP left)
          and
        • 2] Does not control both bridges
          or
        • 3] Concedes

        That side is then obliged to quit the field
        . So, as long as a side controls both bridges they can't lose
      * why 68%?? DG originally came up with the number for the last game, as in that game it represented a round number of SP's lost - he subsequently did some research and found out that French casualties at Blenheim were about that, so it has some verisimilitude..

      Stay tuned for the game report which will, somewhat amazingly, be post number number 700 (!)

      Sunday, February 1

      More transport - Zvezda Matadors

      Some of you may remember this from your youth..



      Back in this post I mentioned that I'd just completed some transport for my then nascent British Army skirmish force for 1940.. I've now completed a couple more to provide the complete transport for the force...



      The AEC Matador was an artillery tractor (OK already...  so my guys have to ride in something..) built by the Associated Equipment Company for British and Commonwealth forces during the Second World War. The Matador was distinctive with its flat fronted cab with gently curved roof, wheels at the corners and a flat load carrying area covered by a canvas or tarpaulin tilt. The cab was made from ash and clad in steel. It was equipped with a winch (7-ton load in its case) like all artillery tractors.




      The entire transport, with a Vickers tank for scale - these were big trucks!



      ..and in comparison to the German Opal Blitz...


      About 9,000 Matadors were built during the war, so it isn't too much of a stretch to assume that the army may have "progged" some during the campaign....  
       
      So, two Matadors, 15mm scale by Zvezda to add to the 2015 paint tally..