"We prefer the plague to the Austrians.."

Yee goods where has the time gone - many, many, apologies for the lack of posts recently, I can only put it down to sheer weight of work, visits by family, and other time wasting activities..! Anywhooo... hold on to your seats, this will be a bumpy one as I have a fair amount to pass on... 😀

First off - while the Battle of Camsix carries on (DG and I are most of the way through move 14, and my apologies for not bringing that up to date) news has reached Steve-the-Wargamer that that inestimable fellow DG is within striking distance of the (the slightly hot and stuffy) loft, and will in fact be visiting this evening! I have every expectation therefore that the Battle of Camsix will now be fought to a conclusion on the physical tabletop - always a preference to a virtual one...

I'll be the first to admit that a virtual game (and Battle Chronicler has turned out to be very good for this) is better than no game - but an amiable chat across the table top accompanied by banter, fine biscuits and warm tea is much preferred - I'm looking forward to it, and if all ends as quickly as I think I'm hoping for a quick foray into the deserts of Egypt for either a Sudan or WWII game afterwards...

Next up have just finished this - a fictional depiction of the life of Robin Hood. It's set in the early middle ages (I'm no medievalist so think start of Richard I a.k.a the Lion-heart's, reign) which is the usual setting for stories about Robin Hood, but has a far more gritty, historical basis than most of the Robin Hood stories/dramatisations... and yes, I'm thinking of the recent BBC effort in this regard....!

There's a big sticker on the front of it (you can see it in the picture) that says that if you don't think it's as good as Bernard Cornwell you can have your money back - welllll... I know that imitation is supposed to be the most sincerest form of flattery, but this was like reading a very very good TV impressionist writing Cornwell - he even has those little prose habits that Cornwell has off to a tee. For example, Cornwell has this habit of describing something very peaceful, idyllic, happy or rural, and then in one sentence at the end of the passage he'll write something like "and then so and so turned up with his army, the sky turned black with the carrion crows, and so we went to war" etcetcetc Well this guy does it too!! All in all I found it a little disturbing - it brought to mind that section in "1984" when Orwell describes the computers writing books for the proles to keep them happy; simple, repeatable, mechanical, plots....... historical & black powder Mills and Boon for the masses.... yikes...

Did I enjoy it?? Hell yes... A brilliant read and I raced through it.. the depiction of Robin is good, plenty of depth to the character, the baddies are genuinely not nice people, we have crossbows, Flemish mercenaries, bows, swords, a bit of love interest, good plot, and a mystery to boot... what's not to like. The thing I also liked about it is that the plot goes away from the legend for the next book - not going to spoil the ending but I'd never heard any stories that had Robin Hood doing what he's going to do in the next book...

Steve the wargamer gives this a seven out of ten - I deducted a point because of the rampant "style plagiarism"! Mr Donald is a very good writer (I think he was/is a journalist on the Times), but he needs to develop his own style a little more.... and yes, I know I have no skills in that area at all so have no real right to cast judgement!

Next up - Steve the Wargamer takes his road train out on holiday fairly soon, and as part of the fun and enjoyment of these trips is the places I get to see, I will merely give you a 'heads up' to look out for some posts over the next week or so, on the battlefield that is on the doorstep of where we're staying this year - the following is a little clue..



Next - and last - some sailing... the UK has had some of the most rubbish weather known to man over the last few months, when it hasn't been raining with no wind, it's been glorious sunshine with too much wind (yes this is possible when your boat is only as big as mine!) so you can imagine that I've been fairly champing at the bit to get out again following those first tentative adventures...

Since the last time I wrote we've ventured out a couple of times - one considerably more successful than the other, but hey, we're still afloat and no-one has been damaged yet!

First trip was on the weekend of the 25th and 26th, just me and the smallest person but it was *way* too windy even with all the reefs I put in - we had a quick run to the end of the creek, turned round and came right back - little'un said to me half way down "Daddy, is the bar still open??" - she had the right idea, and that was where we ended up!

Distance: 3 miles (63 miles year to date)
Wind: Heavy (Force 5 gusting 6)

The next trip was much better though - quite possibly the best sail of the year so far, when little'un and I (she's turning into quite the 'foredeck gorilla' she has a knack with the roller furling on the foresail, and steers a good course if I need to do something!) went on a marathon sail all the way from our mooring, up to Emsworth to wave at family members out for a walk, and then all the way down to the bottom of the harbour, and for the first time *out to sea*! Not far I'll admit, as I needed to get back in time for the tide on the mooring... but we rounded the Eastoke mark coming back - bit of a milestone all round and much chuffed....


Distance: 15 miles (78 miles year to date)
Wind: Medium (Force 3 gusting 4)

Camsix .. Move 13

The battle is hotting, so without further ado let's push on. As usual, click on any picture for a bigger view....

The following should help with identifying units referred to:

Move 13:

The first part of the move (that is with the the American's as the moving player, the British as the firing player; in the second part of the move we swap over) saw the 4th Mass. Militia, shaken, bloodied, but on the right side of the river at last...

Elsewhere however, with a regiment of shaky looking Highlanders just to their front, the troopers of Lauzun's Hussars look to their sabres, push their side plaits back and out of the face, and calm their sweat laden horses for another charge.. (curious fact - apparently hussars would weight the plaits with pistol balls to make them hang straight...)

...but first the British firing - and to show you how the rules work I thought I'd give you the full mechanics of one of the exchanges.... so, starting with the cavalry squadron on the far side of the river who were firing at the 4th Mass. Militia we see the following - in our rules (which you can obtain from the link on my AWI project page, or direct from here, oh, and they're free... ) all damaging hits are scored on 7 or more thrown on 2D6, they cause strength points to be lost and the unit taking the damage to become "shaken"; less than 7 won't cause damage but may still cause morale to worsen depending on the strength of the unit being fired at...

..so here we have a squadron of British Dragoons - two start with they throw 8 on 2D6, a good start, but they then modify this with the following.

• They are slightly understrength (as a result of previous casualties) so they subtract 1 - if they were greatly understrength it would have been more
• They are also "shaken" so subtract another 1 ... so we are already under the magic "7"
• The game is being fought at night so before the game DG and I agreed some blanket rules to cover this - amongst which was an automatic -1 on firing for everyone.. so there goes another...

..which gives an end result of 5 - not enough to inflict physical damage, but what about their morale? When I check the strength of the 4th Mass. we see that they are on 4 strength points - 5 is greater than 4 so the 4th Mass become shaken. As it happens though they already are shaken (from the canister in the previous move) so the end effect is none...

..elsewhere, the other British firing was largely more effective with the Royal Sussex despite being shaken inflicting casualties on the 2nd Battalion of the Bourbonnais and the Royal Irish doing the same to the 1st New York.

The good news (for me) is that those shaky Highlanders couldn't aim straight and failed to hit Lauzun's, but unfortunately the Welch Fusiliers did... no charge for them this move then..

In the next phase of the move DG became the moving player and his first task was to check morale for those of his units that are shaken or routing... universally the results were all good, so all that hard work by the Americans in the previous firing phase was set to naught. Worse still DG announced a charge by Fraser's (the previously shaky Highlanders, now looking decidedly irritated) on Lauzun's Hussars.

Not before I get to fire however... American firing was effective (yee haa!) the artillery inflicted further damage on the cavalry across the river, the other artillery doing the same to the grenadiers of the Erbprinz. The 2nd New York also causes further damage to the Royal Sussex but in perhaps the most important exchange, Lauzun's fails to inflict any damage physically or morale'wise on Fraser's so the charge is on...

In their morale test (to stand the charge) Lauzun's hold firm (brave boys!) - in the ensuing melee however, despite being under strength, surely tired, and meeting the charge at the halt - they win!!! Hurrah! If it wasn't 30 years too early the Marseillaise would surely have rung out..

With the rout by Fraser's - the move comes to an end;...


Stay with us for move 14...

Camsix update.. moves 10 to 12

You may remember from the last post that I'd left the situation in our ongoing campaign game at move 9, and with DG's forces moving inexorably towards my outnumbered position and from both sides of the river... as usual, click on any picture for a bigger view....

Time then to catch up on the latest moves, and perhaps to give more news of battle honours won!

The following should help with identifying units referred to:

Move 10:

Probably the last of the "manoeuvre moves" as DG was aligning himself for his attack - a fairly unique move as there was also no firing... During my move I finally realised that there was no way I could leave my militia across the river in the face of such numbers, whether they were in a house or not, so made a break for the bridge.. I could have done with doing it a move earlier but had no idea so many of DG's units were still this side of the river.

Elsewhere, the other militia unit and the artillery deploy on the river bank to cover their retreat (I still have to get across the bridge yet and that involves a deployment to column in the face of the enemy!). Lastly, the second of the two French Battalions moves back from the earthworks to conform on DG's move towards the bottom of the map and cover the gap left by some of my units having to cover the river bank.

Move 11:

No firing but the 4th Battalion of the Militia make it to the bridge - have to cross it yet though! In his turn DG's units face front and start to advance, in addition DG launched a cavalry charge with his cavalry at Lauzun's Hussars.

True to form my firing was about as successful as ever (not a good game so far!) and the Rhode Island artillery failed to inflict casualties, while the New York Artillery was out of range.

Lauzun's fired, but failed to stop the ensuing charge by the 2nd Squadron of the 16th Dragoons.

So here we were... a full squadron of Britain's finest, with fresh honours recently won (see the this post) facing up to a depleted squadron of France's finest, only recently recovered from a mauling.... I have to say I didn't hold out much hope but a miracle was about to occur!

In the following test "to stand the charge" Lauzun's held, and engage the British cavalry (first hurdle overcome), but then in the melee, despite the charge bonus the British lose to the French and retire shaken and with casualties!



Move 12:

Across the river the 4th Massachusetts Militia (MM4) deploy in column to cross the bridge, and by the end of the turn they are half way across - so far so good... elsewhere the first of the two French Battalions faces about to move towards the American right, I'd decided that they were too valuable resource to be left as isolated as they are...

In the centre, the 4th Mass. Militia are in column cross the bridge...
The British firing phase bore out my worst fears for the 4th Mass. - canister at close range causing the first casualties and those militia guys are looking shakey..

Elsewhere - despite being "shaken" (our rules work on three morale states "good", "shaken" and "rout" in that order) the British cavalry recently 'handled' by Lauzun's, fired as I had declared another charge on them by Lauzun's.. this was ineffective so that was one charge due to go home! In the ensuing test "to stand" though, the British cavalry break and rout.. strike two for Lauzun's!

In the British movement phase the whole of the DG's line moves forward.

In the foreground, running from left to right along the British line, we have the Royal Irish, Erbprinz, and to their right the Royal Sussex - facing the Royal Sussex, and behind the earthworks, we have one of the two French Battalions flanked by the Rhode Island artillery

Opening fire the New York Artillery on the riverbank finally opens up it's score with damage on the British cavalry on the far side of the river - up until then they had been looking like a concern to the 4th Mass crossing the bridge so that was a good result.

The other artillery (Rhode Island) fired on the British infantry assault causing casualties to the Royal Sussex (the 35th Foot, and my local county regiment).

Lauzun's, fresh from their efforts against the British cavalry have been somewhat overawed to see that Fraser's Foot (the 71st) have changed facing so as to charge them - the concern is not enough to shake their aim and a hurried volley thins the ranks somewhat (and more importantly causes Fraser's to become shaken - and therefore "not interested" in charging home! Strike three to Lauzun's... )

Stick with me for move 13 which will follow shortly... and those battle honours??? I bet you can guess who'll get them, but read on for confirmation....!

More pictures from the Camsix front...

..and in an effort to show that some figure wargaming does actually take place in Steve the Wargamer's (slightly hot and stuffy) loft - some more pictures of the current battle that DG and I are playing via the auspices of the Battle Chronicler* program..

First of all then an overall view of the engagement around Camsix - this shows the river (impassable along it's length), bridge, and the village either side.. click on any picture for a larger view..

A closer view of the village from the British perspective - in the foreground the 35th Foot (Royal Sussex Regiment) on the right, the Infantry regiment Erbprinz (centre) and the Royal Irish Regiment prepare to inflict their worst in the face of the American artillery and one of the two French regiments..

...and how they look from the American perspective..

Next, two views of the hot fighting on and around the bridge.. on the bridge, the 4th Battalion of the Massachusetts Militia (carrying the battle honour they won at Carnine) are crossing the bridge with the British hot on their feet..



Lastly, New York's finest wait the imminent arrival of the British..

Hope you enjoy the pictures - all figures are from Minifigs with the exception of the Sussex Regiment who are from Parkfield Miniatures. More anon!

* Users of said product need to hot foot it to the web site immediately as version 4 is now released!

A nice find at the British Library...

On one of the Yahoo groups I'm a member of, I found mention of this little snippet - the British Library has just announced that it has made available millions of articles from 49 London, national and regional newspaper titles (UK only) dating from between 1800 and 1900. They believe that they have over two million pages - and all are fully text searchable with keywords in context visible in the results list with loads and loads of illustrations, maps, tables and photographs from the time...

Now as any confirmed Colonial gamer will tell you, the "Illustrated London News" with it's articles featuring those fantastically evocative pictures (engravings??) by Richard Caton-Woodville [click here] (see following) and other illustrators of the time (an example from one of the articles in the archive is include above and to the left) are the very stuff of why we wargame this period..

..it was pictures and illustrations from the newspapers of the time scattered around some of the wargame books by Donald Featherstone, and especially in Wargamers Newsletter, that first provided the embers of what was later to be my Sudan project, and now it's possible to search the original newspapers.. on-line and from the comfort of your favourite browsing position.. now if that isn't enough to stir the cockles of any jaded Colonial wargamers heart I don't know what is....!

As a (considerable) taster of just how brilliant this resource is - check the following link which is to the
The Penny Illustrated Paper and Illustrated Times of Saturday, August 26, 1882 [click here]; an edition subtitled "Pictorial Chronicle of our War against Arabi Pasha" - brilliant stuff!
Now there is a downside of course - not all the newspapers are free to access, at the moment only the "Penny Illustrated Paper" and "The Graphic" are free of charge, but there's more than enough there to keep me occupied... for the more serious student there is an option to buy a 24-hour pass or a seven-day pass for what I think are very reasonable amounts... (and there's a comment that the whole collection is free to access for people in UK higher and further education, and also in some UK public libraries which might be worth checking out at a later date...)

Either way - an astonishing and delightful resource - I can see many "wasted" lunchtimes browsing the newspapers for articles of interest!

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Another sailing snippet - the girls and I went out for a very exciting sail on Sunday - a beautiful day but pretty windy so it marked a nautical first for me in as much as it was the first time I had reefed the main, and that it was also largely succesful!

According to my local weather station [click here] winds during the time we were out were a solid force 4, gusting 5... and I can confirm it was lively enough that we decided to have a run into my local fishing village (Emsworth) rather than head towards the sea. A lovely run, but very busy, followed by a pretty hairy beat back to the entrance of the inlet where are mooring is, dodging two lines of moored yachts end to end, and what seemed like a hundred thousand other boats going about their business - all very exciting, but nothing was hit and no animals were hurt while completing this exercise!

Distance: 5 miles (60 miles year to date)
Wind: Light (Force 4 gusting 5)