Isicweo's Kraal 1879-Zululand

This morning Brian and I had a"Corker" of a game,involving Zulus and British-everything you could expect from a colonial game was in it,including a few "frights" and near run melees etc.

This shows the scenario and initial troop positions,Brian came up with a battle plan(flexible!!) and the game started......

All ready to go,the table before any movement-My plan was to send my left horn through the large gap and the smaller gap,to the left of the photo,and when in position,the right and centre would advance and wipe out the puny British force!!

My attack has started in this shot,I have driven in Brian's outriders,consisting of Natal Horse and Mounted Infantry,but am coming under fire from Gatling,Artillery and Rifle fire-my casualties are mounting up,but confidence is high!!

My Left Horn has made contact with Brian's N.N.C.-who actually passed their morale test and stood!! Brian has moved a company of the 80th foot onto the flank in an attempt to thwart my out-flanking move.

My centre regiments are pressing forward onto the British main line,and although taking some horrendous casualties,I have made contact with a company of the famous 24th.My right horn is being cut to pieces as I move to complete the classical Zulu movement of encirclement.

I am having success along the whole line in this shot-Assegai against Bayonet-there can be only one outcome-can't there??

Some of the Zulu regiments have "retired"(it's good being retired!!) and the trend seems to be that the Zulus have reached their high water mark-surely not!!

This shows my left horn at a standstill,the same has happened to my centre,and although I was making progress on my right,it was decided that the Zulu Army had "shot it's bolt" and the British were declared the winners-A draw would have been nice!!
This was the first game with my newly based British and Zulus,and a couple of points were raised,which we will address before the next game-namely reducing the British "fighting power",as well as the N.N.C. and mounted troops-however this still was a tremendously exciting and colourful game,played in a great spirit.
Roll on tonight,when Dave and Paul will be running through our game for Saturday-Brian is going out for a family meal so can't make it.

Battle of Mercia 60AD

Last night we were located in Roman Britain-Brian and Richard were Roman commanders whilst Graham,Paul and I were in charge of masses of British Tribesmen.

This is the scenario and map,showing that the Legions were very vulnerable to flank attacks if they weren't careful!!-Graham commanded all of the cavalry and chariots,and a damned good job he made of them too!!Paul commanded the centre and I was on the British right-Richard commanded Legio Phoenix,and Brian Legio Nova-all was set for a good old tussle.

This is the table,before any movement.The British plan was simply to advance and take on the Romans-no mean feat!!Richard moved forward to a small hill to his front,which turned out to be a bit of a mistake,as this left his right flank open to chariot attack-a point that Graham hadn't missed!! Brian 's Legion moved forward at a sedate pace-in fact if they had stood still any longer,at one point,they would have had to start paying council tax!!

My attack is in full swing in this shot,I have "lured" Brian's cavalry into a trap-he was surrounded and had to take his cavalry off the board,leaving my warbands free to wander around at will!!Brian put a good fight with his cohorts and seemed to win nearly every melee on this flank,however I was containing him,and preventing him from sending help to Richard,who was about to be assaulted by both Graham and Paul!!

There goes Graham,a magnificent sight as his chariots and cavalry roll forward-he beat Richard's cavalry and pushed them back onto the spears of the Auxilliary infantry,who,to their credit,refused to let the cavalry pass through them,and caused them to perish to a man!!-This left the infantry at the mercy of the "mobile firing platforms" of the chariots,and little by little,Graham wore down the hapless troops facing him,leaving the flank and rear wide open-hurrah!!

Meanwhile,in the centre,Paul has let his warbands loose on the Romans!!Both of Richards flanks are threatened-his right by Graham,and his left by a good out-flanking move by a couple of Paul's warbands-will Brian send him some help??

Not if I can help it!!-I have reformed my battered Warbands and renewed my attack on Brian's Legion-Graham looks as though he can't believe how successful he is on that flank-or is he dreaming of decorating his new house??
However Brian,as usual, threw some tremendous dice and I was in trouble yet again,but still holding on-just!

Paul has been repulsed on his left,but Graham is destroying the Auxilliary infantry,if he can get round the rear of Richard's line,the game is over!!

Yes,there he goes again!!with the flank taken,and Paul renewing his attack against the battered and broken Romans,all was lost for them,and although Brian was holding his own(no silly jokes please!!) on his flank,the Roman cause was lost-back to Rome and get another couple of Legions,and try again!!
Well done everyone,a good and exciting game,with lots going on.
On Thursday night we will be going over the game we are putting on at Middlesbrough-Call To Muster,and on Thursday morning Brian and I will be having a Zulu game,with my newly based Zulu and British armies.
Happy Saint Patrick's day to you all!!
Why won't this bloody thing publish?

Germans vs Romans.

What other hobby can take you from the Sudan in the morning to Germany at night?? This is,of course, a lead in to tonight's game,involving Paul,who commanded a Roman Legion,and Brian and I who commanded Germans and Dacians.
The scenario saw Brian and I attacking a Roman defensive line,which had two open flanks-this presented a real problem for Paul,but,as usual,he was up for it!!

This photo shows the relative positions of all the troops,Paul behind the lines and Brian's German hordes on the left,and my Dacians in the background-all was not to be this quiet for long!!

Brian's magnificent first attack is going well in this shot,Paul's bolt throwers and archers had caused a few casualties to the leading warbands,and this was to tell once the walls were reached!!

My infantry are attacking the more open flank,Paul has sent some cavalry to stop me,but,after a tussle and a half!! I managed to drive him back.Paul is sending reinforcements to every section of the wall under attack,and has beaten Brian on the far sections-this was great stuff!!

This shows the battle from the Roman point of view-Brian is pressing along the whole of his front,and I am gaining a foothold on the left.Most of Brian's troops had taken some damage from arrows and pila,and it looked like he would be beaten back from the wall at this point!

The Romans are winning,apart from on the far left,but Brian,as determined as ever,mounted another attack,and managed to get over the wall again-what was going on in my neck of the woods??

I have gained the upper hand,with both my cavalry and infantry-the Romans are in trouble now-Brian is victorious in the centre,so it could be the end for Paul...........

And so it came to pass-the Romans are beaten,and being driven back along the length of their defensive works-ah well send for another couple of Legions,and try again!!
This was,by any standards,a great game,well done to Paul,who put up a tremendous defence,and to Brian,who persevered,and got there in the end.Two great games in one day-it's great being retired you know!!
Roll on Sunday,probably 5 of us,and maybe another Ancients.

The Sudan 1885

This morning Brian and I had sand in our shoes,fighting a newly finished Dervish army against a British army complete with a couple of newly painted units from Brian.
My plan was a simple one-ATTACK!! whilst Brian's plan was a little bit more complicated,he had to defend a Zareba filled with Egyptians,and beat off my attacks on his small force.

This is the Zareba in all its glory,stoutly defended by Egyptian troops-these did very well and it took me four attempts to gain access-but gain it, I did!!

My new and improved Haddendowah contingent are getting themselves worked up into a frenzy in this shot!! the Figures are mostly Warrior Miniatures and some "conversions"-flags downloaded from Warflags(for free-hurrah!!)

My attack begins,Brian had Gatling and artillery and rifles aimed at my advancing troops,and did great execution!!( to say the least!) however,I knew that I might lose my first line,but my second line stood a good chance of making contact-and they did!!-hurrah.

On my left,the Zareba is proving a tough nut to crack,most of my Ansar units were stopped in their tracks,allowing Brian to move some infantry and a mountain gun onto their rear!!

My whole line is getting closer to the British line,and sphincters are "twitching",who will give way first?-Brian's gun and rifle fire was magnificent and my "officers" were falling at an alarming rate!!

Contact!!  of a sort,my line had been so decimated before contact,that my fighting ability was "poor" to say the least-however "God" loves a trier,so I just kept coming on,and on,and on.......

With Brian's troops holding firm and thrusting at me with the bayonet(and I didn't like it up me!!) my morale finally broke and most of my line was driven back.The Zareba was in my control,but even I couldn't bring myself to ask for a draw!!
This was a great game-it looked right and felt right-loads of colour,exciting melees,and nail biting stuff at times.
Another game tonight,Paul should be turning up,probably an Ancients game.

Moors vs Spanish 1098AD-El Cid

Forget about El Cid the blockbuster movie,last we had El Cid the blockbuster wargame!!
Brian,Dave ,Paul and I had a stupendous game,with Brian defending a camp,me trying to bring supplies and reinforcements to him,whilst Dave and Paul attempted to storm the camp,and stop the relief column.

This is the scenario,showing initial troop positions,the following photo shows the board before any movement has taken place.

 The camp which Brian defended so well,and Paul attacked with such vigour,is on the right,whilst in the background my relief column can be seen,with Dave's cavalry "lurking in the hills awaiting an opportunity to attack it!!

My cavalry have turned into line,to face Dave,and my second line is moving to the left to block the gap between the stream and a rocky outcrop-Dave had the same idea,and it was set to be a titanic struggle!!

Meanwhile,back at the stream and camp!!-Paul is launching a major attack frontally,whilst leading his Black Guard in an out-flanking move,trying to stretch Brian's defenders to the limit-however,Brian was fully aware of the situation,and had a cunning plan to thwart Paul's attempts(did he??)

Dave and I are locked in combat along the front line,I have secured the column of waggons,oxen etc. and have now lined up my infantry to support the cavalry-I suppose Brian could have used them back at the camp,but I have complete faith in his ability to beat the Moorish attackers!!

The battle for the rocky outcrop is in full swing here,and in the background the battle for the camp is swinging both ways!! The Black Guard is making its way around the flank-Brian where is your cunning plan??

I am in real trouble now,Dave has managed to get into my rear(stop it!!) but I am managing to beat his other cavalry on the plain to the right of the picture-Look, the Black Guard is mounting an attack across the stream-cunning plan number 459 needs to be instigated Brian!!!

Cunning plan number 459 in operation-Brian has put El Cid and his Guard cavalry into the fray-this proved to be quite successful,and Paul was temporarily pushed back-hurrah!!-however,the key word was "temporarily" and a couple of moves later,including an attempt on El Cid's life(un-successful!) Paul was pushing everything back,and was about to claim a victory!!

Dave and I have fought ourselves to a stand-off,I have beaten him on the Plain,and he has beaten me on the rocky outcrop area,and has cut me off from the rest of the camp-Brian is trying to find a swear word to sum the situation up I think!!
Brian and I had to admit defeat,and declare Paul and Dave the worthy winners of this great game,played in a wonderful spirit,well done lads!!
Roll on Thursday,maybe two games,first will a Sudanese game against Brian-we have both been painting furiously(so what's new?) some new Haddendowah and British figures!!


I must apologise for the wonderful photo of my kitchen tiles(third photo!) I have been having a spot of bother with the blog format again!!

Battle of Ivabiggin 1706

Thursday was another two game day-it's great being retired,I don't know if I've mentioned it before!!One game this morning with Brian,and another great game this evening with Brian,Paul and Dave.

This is the scenario and initial troop dispositions,Dave was in command of the Allied cavalry,Paul was in command of the allied infantry and guns in the town,and Brian commanded the French cavalry,leaving me in charge of the "French" infantry and guns.

This shows the general layout of the board,we all managed to move forward on the first move,and it was action all the way from then on!!Brian attempted to prevent Dave from relieving the town,Dave was determined to get across the bridge with his "ambulance coach" to get the Duke away,Paul 's objective was to prevent me from storming the town and capturing the aforsaid Duke!!

My Bavarians are fire-fighting with Paul's Danes in this photo-I was aware that if Brian couldn't prevent Dave from advancing quickly,I was going to get attacked from behind,so I had issued orders to "turn around if the cavalry get too close" as it happened one of my units failed to do so and was "hacked to pieces"
Brian and Dave were having a right old tussle,with squadrons wheeling about,melees going first one way then the other-all thrilling and exciting stuff!!

This gives a good view of the Cavalry manoeuvres going on -please note the nice lines and good dressing of the units concerned-this was all to change within a couple of moves!!

My "Wild Geese" are moving forward here,but Paul is putting up a great defence,my gunners must have been trained by Stevie Wonder!! I couldn't hit a thing,on the other hand Paul's gunners were doing great execution!!

Cavalry vs Cavalry!! this was a particularly tense part of the game,whoever won these battles would seal the fate of the other!!-My Bavarians are trying to get into position quickly before I am caught.

Paul and I are Blasting away at each other,and Dave has managed to fight his way through a throng of Bavarians,crossed the bridge,and rescued the Duke!!-hurrah.However,he now has to get back across the bridge and take his "casualty" to safety!!
With Brian's cavalry now rampant on the plain,and my infantry sufficiently recovered,this was going to be an impossible task-another hurrah!!

This shows the "scattered" squadrons of cavalry-long gone are those nice lines and fine dressings-it's every man for himself-luckily for the French,Brian threw some brilliant dice to win the day!!

No way out,Marlborough is captured,the war is over,Vive la France!!-look at Dave's body language!!However ,defeat is not dishonour-both side played well,and this will go down as one of the closest games ever played in our club-it makes such a nice change for me to win!!!!!
Roll on Sunday,"El Cid" game with a guest appearance from Charlie Wesencraft,if we're lucky!

Athens vs Sparta 420BC

This morning Brian and I fought a tremendous game using the following scenario.....

Brian commanded the Athenians,and I commanded the Spartans.Brian's plan was quite simple,he was to march to the river's edge and prevent me from crossing!My plan was to be in three phases:First phase was for my left flank allies to advance and take on Brian's Thebans,once engaged,the second phase was to kick in and my centre was to advance and take on Brian's Corinthians,and the final phase was to get my right flank to attack the Athenians once the centre was engaged-sounds wonderful,but,as usual,things did not go smoothly!!

This shot shows the first and second phases getting into action,my allies have beaten the Thebans back,but Brian is reinforcing the melee,and was to push me back across the river.Meanwhile my centre is pushing the Corinthians back,and causing great confusion in their ranks,my right flank is still slowly moving forward.

With my left and centre doing well,I have moved my right flank up to the river's edge,in preparation for a charge.Brian used his archers well and has managed to inflict casualties on one of my units,which told to great effect later on!!

Oh no!! my left flank has collapsed under pressure from Brian's Thebans,and has been forced back across the river,and now my centre units are about to be outflanked and attacked by the cavalry-can I save the day with my reserve unit of Spartans and my cavalry??

My right flank is making steady progress against a determined defence from Brian's Athenians,however the weakened unit is beginning to take alot of casualties and may break,leaving my whole line exposed!!

This is the final photo of the game,showing my central units being pushed back over the river,by the Corinthians-my centre was also being beaten in the melees,and my right was in serious trouble,so we called it a day(not even a request for a draw) declaring the Greek Allied army the winners-oh well,with my shield or on it,as they say!!
This was a really enjoyable game-cat and mouse for the first 4 or 5 moves,then CLASH!!-good stuff,and well done to Brian.
4 of us will be playing tonight-a Marlburian game-spot the same terrain!!