"One Hour Wargames" - Scenario 8 - "Melee" - Game

..and so on to the battle- see here for Set Up [clicky]... 

As per the last post the forces are double sized (the book allows 6 units per side, we went with twelve) and will be decided by random using the table I presented last time..  first order of the day then was to decide what each us would be using..

DG threw 1, and I threw 6..  DG opted to play as the Allies, and also opted to play as Defender (given his artillery strength, this was a no brainer). I, therefore, was the Franco-Bavarian attacker (which worked out quite well as it allowed me to use the two Bavarian Cuirassier regiments I have, in their proper role/guise)

Die Roll	Infantry	Artillery	Hvy  Cavalry	Cavalry
1	6	3	0	3
2	6	2	2	2
3	6	0	2	4
4	8	2	0	2
5	8	2	2	0
6	8	0	2	2

..and so to the following picture which shows the end of Move 1...

The scenario requires the defender to place four units on the hill before the game starts (remember we are doubling up), no other troops start on the table, since this is a reinforcement battle..

DG opted to place two of his artillery pieces (quelle surprise!) backed up by a couple of battalions of infantry.. on the first move I brought on my first units; six battalions of infantry...

...few moves later - my cavalry is now all on - the mediums are at the bottom of the picture. I was planning to use these to discombobulate DG and give him something to worry about..  hopefully. The heavies are on the far right...

The attack is going fairly well - I was using the wood to provide cover to the infantry - my plan was to send in four battalions as an assault column up the hill, while I used the other couple of battalions and the heavies to protect the flank...  we would see...  

...few moves later and the last of DG's reserves are arriving (top left) - despite appearances the battalion at the bottom is actually French - they're Wild Geese

...those last reinforcements effectively put an end to my attempt at discombobulation, and before I knew it those three cavalry regiments of DG's were discombobulating me!  What is good news is that my heavies are wreaking bloody slaughter on my right flank (top right of the picture) - I'm rolling up a flank - always a wonderful thing for a wargamer - probably because it's so rare in my case!...

...lots of moves later - penultimate move if I remember rightly - start of move as well as those are initiative dice next to the units - blue for me, red for DG. My heavies are on top of the hill facing one of DG's mediums - the assault column is at the foot, and I have one battalion on top - we're heading for a draw..

...and that was it..  draw... neither side with control of the hill...

Post Match Analysis:

• DG's butchers bill was immense - despite forcing the draw he lost 8 of his 12 units; I think I lost 4 or 5..  another couple of moves and I could have had it
• The rules worked well on the whole (well done DG!); we both particularly liked the initiative dice "idea" (nothing new under the sun) as it added an entirely new facet to the pre-move deliberations....  "who do you want to move first, and who can wait"... for reference the rule is as follows:
• Each Turn both Players roll a number of D6 equal the number of units they have 
• One D6 is allocated to each unit to show the order in which the Player wishes activate them – lowest dice number activates first
• Units are then activated individually according to their sequence order (see “Unit Activation”)
• When there are ties (ie. both units have same activation score) then the unit on each side is rolled for again, and the lowest D6 activates first, until the activation sequence for that number is resolved. 
NB.
• If there are multiple units with the same activation, then the unit failing to activate may need to test (and fail) again 
• Players can agree to waive the right to decide ties when the units activation is not affected by any other units close by
• We both agreed the melee rules needed a little work...  Neil has decided that infantry didn't charge in this era, only cavalry did - he's clearly well read, but then so (relatively) am I, and Neil and I have come to different conclusions...  

"One Hour Wargames" - Scenario 8 - "Melee" - Set up

DG is down - so an opportunity for a game and more importantly some actual honest to goodness wargaming related content for the blog! "Blimus", as the Lards would say, "about time!"

Having asked DG what he fancied playing as we've had a good run of ACW games, the Memorial game saw a run out of the AWI troops, and the scenario before last was a much needed Sudan game, I was thinking WWII... but back comes DG with "Marlborough, please" and who am I to disappoint... 

So for this game we are going to return to my favourite book of the moment, and this time we are going to play (the next) Scenario #8 "Melee" which is based on the historical battle of Lundy's Lane as originally described by Stuart Asquith in "The War of 1812 - A Campaign Guide to the War with America 1812-1815", and subsequently re-interpreted by Neil...

We'll use the rules from the book, but DG has re-interpreted them, in the same way as he did for the ACW games, but this time for the War of the Spanish Succession - the basic framework however, will be the same as we used for the ACW rules.

Forces will be double sized - the scenario calls for six units a side we'll have 12, and all arrival/reinforcement rules will be exactly the same as written in the book, just double the numbers.. so we'll start with four units on the hill rather than two, etc etc

Force composition will be random using the table in the book with the following proviso's

• artillery will always be "light" and never more than three pieces...
• we ignore troop types that don’t apply to the period 
• one of the columns in the table had no troop types for this specific period so I substituted “Heavy Cavalry” 

Which gets us to:

Die Roll	Infantry	Artillery	Hvy  Cavalry	Cavalry
1	6	3	0	3
2	6	2	2	2
3	6	0	2	4
4	8	2	0	2
5	8	2	2	0
6	8	0	2	2

In addition:

• all unit morale modifiers will be 0 (for both sides) 
• no National characteristic bonuses will apply for either side (ie. British/Dutch firing bonus doesn’t apply etc etc) 

So each side will be totally equal, except for the results of the randomised force generator....  

Table is as follows, north is the furthest edge - one hill, one wood, the road, all other terrain is no penalty:

...aerial view.. left is north, or north is left, take your pick.. 

"Gate of the Dead" ('Master of War' Series) by David Gilman - a review..

Lord, two weeks since the last update/post... shameful...

Not been entirely un-busy, just not enough time to sit down and write it up.. I have however, as always been reading fairly voraciously, and this one was finished a few weeks ago...

As those of you who read my book review page will know I have been very enjoyably working my way through the Julian Stockwin "Thomas Kydd" books, but I found myself with a few days while I waited fro the next book to arrive in that series so picked this up just to tide me over.. I ended up racing through it and it was very far from being a time filler but deserves a post in its own right purely because of how good the book is..

This is the third book in the series and reminded me just how damned good they are...  set in the period of the 100 Years War, this series is about archer Thomas Blackstone, knighted after the Battle of Crecy for saving the Kings life, but now (after events in Normandy in the previous book [clicky]) living in exile in Italy (or rather Tuscany, as there was no "Italy" in 1358) where he is a leader of a band of condottieri in the service of the city state of Lucca protecting it from the attentions of similar condottieri in the pay of Milan. Blackstone is very good at his job and rewarded well, but is still estranged from his wife (again described in the previous book)

Things are going reasonably well for him then, but then he receives a message via a wounded man that  appears to have come from the Queen (Isabella) - it is a summons back to the court in England, and while it is quite obvious that it may be a trap, Blackstone remains a 'Kings man' (despite the exile) so decides to return. As expected a number of attempts are made on his life during the journey, and when he arrives in England the Queen tells him she needs him to fight the Black Prince in a tournament that has been announced, and which has attracted the very best knights in the whole of Europe...  he does it, but in a way that only the Prince can see as to all intents and purposes he yields, in the meeting with the Prince, and the King, Isabella explains that English political handling of problems in France are leading to the chance that they will lose their holdings (England still held the French King at this time and were demanding a huge ransom, which effectively France couldn't pay, but meant a power vacuum that the French Barons were exploiting for all its worth). The King orders Blackstone back to France, into the heart of the Peasants Revolt, to rescue the French Kings family, but holds out the hope the Blackstone's estranged wife might be with them.

After many adventures, skirmishes, and battles, this he manages to do - and reunites with his wife who has forgiven him. At the end of the book however, the assassin who has been stalking him since the beginning of the book, is reveled to be in the pay of Milan, and Blackstone has to face him in trial by combat...

..and that's it - no spoilers here, read the book - Steve the Wargamer rates this one 10 out of 10....

Yapton Beer Festival 2016

Oh happy day, for 'tis Yapton again, err again... another year has passed, Yapton worked it's usual magic and the sun shone, bullshit was quoth, and we all got burnt and enjoyed some outstanding ales... doesn't get any better... 😀

As ever most beers were surprisingly cheap - I think we were paying £1.50/ £1.60/£1.70 a half, about the same as last year, but excellent value. Entry to the festival  was a fiver (which gets you an official glass, no official glass no beer), and that's the secret of this successful festival, and a lesson that a lot of Beer Festivals could do with learning...  people aren't going to come and pay a large entry fee to an event when they are then also being charged the same or more than their local pub... last years experiment of offering beer in a third of a pint at a cheaper rate again was also continued...

Long may this little festival continue!

Piccie courtesy Twitter...  this is the main bar - there's another one behind the person taking the piccie...

So without further ado here's the ales.....

Brewery	Beer (click for more info)	ABV	Notes (from brewery website)	What I can remember...
Thornbridge	Wild Swan	3.5%	"White Gold Pale Ale Wild Swan is white gold in colour with aromas of light bitter lemon, a hint of herb and a subtle spiciness. A great refreshing beer!"	Little underwhelming when compared to their better known "Jaipur" - I had hopes that this would match the bottled version but I don't think it did..
St Austell	Proper Job	4.5%	"A powerfully authentic IPA, Proper Job is brewed with a blend of imported American hops. .... An award winning modern IPA, packed full of citrus pineapple, grapefruit resinous flavours with a fine crisp bitter finish."	One of my top 10 beers of all time - rarely seen on draught - this was always going to be a choice on the day. Interesting that the draught verison is a whole percent less than the bottled version, even so it was lovely..  very nice
Oakham	JHB	3.8%	"Hop: Challenger, Mount Hood Colour: Light Gold"	Another one of the citrusy, grapefruity, super bitter, light coloured ales that are very popular at the moment..  I had two of these, but only 'cos one of the other guys got me the second one in error.. Ordered me the wrong beer and then goes to sleep...
North Riding	Citra	4.5%	"Citrus in a glass, the hop that keeps on delivering. Easy drinking premium pale ale with a grapefruit and lemon taste and aroma."	This was the one I had hoped to have the half before..  well worth waiting for, as it didn't disappoint...
Vibrant Forest	Flying Saucer	4.3%	"A golden beer, with hoppy explosions of citrusy orange and grapefruit, leaving a lingering bitterness and a curious desire for more."	Perfectly pleasant, but not outstanding... and no curious desire, good or otherwise...
Burning Sky	Aurora	5.6%	"Premium-strength pale ale with an expansive blend of US hops giving a resinous mouthfeel. Big citrus and tropical fruit flavours, yet well balanced."	I'd first tried this on a Jolly Boys outing to Brighton where we had gone to a pub called the Prince Albert - one of the stand out beers for that trip, so today was a check to see if it was still as good as I remember it..  and it was, this was my "beer of the festival"...
Oakleaf	Hole Hearted	4.7%	"The use of Cascade hops gives this golden ale powerful floral and tropical fruit flavours, and a delicate bitterness."	Bit of a cheat as this is one of my top 10 beers - I just fancied a half before I went home so I was strictly stay on on piste with this choice...

...and that was it - wended my way home for a snooze on the sofa and a watch of Eurovision...

Mapping loveliness....

Name me a wargamer who doesn't love a map...  for me, I immediately start imagining the movement of troops, and before you know it a campaign is launched...  😏

This [clicky] therefore is very interesting - fill yer boots...