I have been "messing about" with my Plains Indians vs US Cavalry set-up,and now feel confident enough to put on a game next Sunday.
This will obviously be a trial run,combining Colonial thinking with a new period outlook.
I have devised a simple scenario,which,hopefully, will test my thinking and revised rules,to give an exciting game(and colourful!) I have taken a few photographs,just to get you into the mood(??) and show what I hope to achieve.
Top photo is the scenario,bottom is the notes which will help to run the scenario smoothly!
This is how the table looks at the moment-both columns approaching the creek,and hardly an Indian in site(apart from the "lookout" and individuals in the separate camps.)
Detail of the terrain and crossing point for the 2nd cavalry-note scouts in forward positions(mad fools!)
The Indian camps,2 Sioux and one Cheyenne,each containing 18 mounted Indians and 18 on foot.
The "lookout".
A view from behind the camps.
The 7th cavalry's column-this has a rifled artillery piece attached to it!
This is why it's called "Grizzly Creek!"
Roll on next Sunday.
Last night saw the fabulous five fight this rather impressive Ancients game,pitting two legions against a coalition of Dacians and Germans-and what a game it turned out to be!
Dave,Paul and Graham were in charge of the Romans,whilst I commanded the Dacians and Brian commanded the Germans..........................................
Brian opened the proceedings with a most vigorous attack on Paul's legion,whilst I did a similar thing against the fort(held by Graham) and Dave's legion....................
The fort attack and cavalry attack went well,but my Dacian warbands "bounced" off the first line of Dave's cohorts!!
As more and more Germans cross the stream,Paul is being put under alot of pressure,and is losing officers galore!!-so far so good for the Roman formations though(this was to change!!)
I am holding my line here,but a most disastrous cavalry charge against one of Paul's cohorts brought my intended advance to a standstill!!-Dave's Roman lines are a lesson to us all!
Meanwhile,back at the fort-I have gained access to the fort,and my cavalry are pushing Graham's troops back-hurrah!!-but will this situation last??
Look at those magnificent Roman lines,then Paul went "Hollywood!!"................
With flanks up in the air and lines broken,Brian needed to capitalise on this tactical error,but unfortunately he had suffered too many casualties in previous moves,and was held by Paul's legion-damn it all,man!!!
After my initial warband was forced back out of the fort,I have managed to gain access again,and Graham is giving me a hard time with his auxiliaries,but his cavalry have "gone home" and the flank should have been mine,but Dave transferred a cavalry unit of his to Graham and the Romans held their own(can't touch you for it!!)
In the background you can see my second line of Dacian warbands being slaughtered by Dave's second line of cohorts-oh dear,is this the end??
One final shot,showing Brian's Germans,still fighting but against the odds!!-well done to us all,this was another great game,roll on next Sunday-I will probably be "rolling out" my Plains Indians.
We had a brief discussion about what type of game we will be putting on at Battleground on 24th November at Stockton,but as usual,nothing concrete was resolved-I give up!!!-mainly because I had already told Leon(Pendraken) that we would be doing a WW2 game!-watch this space.................
I will be investing a large part of my pension in November(Battleground show,Stockton) on some new river sections,from Last Valley.These sections are in 300mm lengths,and,being an experienced wargamer,know for a fact that they will "slip" during the games,the same as roads do!
So what is the solution??-well,Velcro strips,is the answer!-I have seen,very recently,as well in the past,that a good looking wargame can end up looking a mess if the river/road sections start to drift apart during the game,so I bought(with real money!!) 1metre of Velcro strips for 3 pounds(gulp!!) and developed the following solution.............................
This shows the equipment I needed-I am using some old and un-used River sections and road sections(on the reverse-clever old me!!) to illustrate the method.The roll of Velcro has both hoop and loop on the same strip,and is self-adhesive,so no need for messy glue.
Detail of the Velcro strip-I will be "sticking" two river sections and a curve/bend to illustrate the solution.
In this shot I have stuck the loops onto a cut piece of card(to act as a join!) and the hoops onto the river sections(the back of it of course!)
I have simply pressed the joining card onto the river section,and a good solid,firm grip is made.
Hey Presto!!-turned over to reveal the river,which will not "drift" apart during a game.
The same method will be applied to the bend/curve......................
Again,stuck and solid-will not move!!
Dismantled,by carefully prising the sections and joining card apart!-simple but effective.
I will be using this method when I get my new river sections.
Any comments??
We will be getting back to "normal" this Sunday,after a couple of weeks of not playing at the club,so I have decided to put on a fairly big Ancients game,featuring Romans against Dacians and Germans.
The scenario-I might just pick sides,working on personalities,instead of our usual "pick up a piece of paper job!!
The table as set out this afternoon-approx. 500 figures per side-should keep us busy!!!
Detail of the Fort,occupied by Auxiliaries,supported by a Legion and Heavy Cavalry.
Roman left flank,facing the dreaded German Tribes!
You've got to smile and wonder and ask yourself, why?-about the Rhinocerrous,not THE WIFE!!
Photographed in Newcastle this morning!!-COOL.
For the past few weeks,I have been working on a "secret" project,but have now finished it and can reveal it to be The Plains Indian Wars 1870's (Custer and all that!!)
I have "scratch-built" 18 Tipi's(Tee-pees,Wigwams!!) and 6 covered waggons,and painted 50 mounted Indians,50 foot Indians,plus 60 US Cavalry,dis-mounted,and 30 Mounted,as well as an artillery piece,scouts,trumpeters etc. etc.
I have actually enjoyed painting everything,and a big thank-you must go to John Holt of Warrior Miniatures who supplied the figures at his usual double quick time,and some "extras" in the way of carbines and sabres. I have taken some photographs today,I hope you like them....
Top photo shows the column of waggons being escorted by the 7th and 2nd cavalry.
Bottom photo shows detail of the 7th.
One of the scratch-built waggons-my modelling skills are limited,but it's amazing what I can do with a couple of cocktail sticks,a flat piece of wood and the foil from a wine bottle top!!(plus some home-caste Prince August wheels!)
The column "under observation"
Detail of the "observers"(note my attempt to paint a Dapple Horse!)
"Form a circle"-the last time I fell for that one was when I was doing a Nude Conga at a party!
Detail showing the variety of poses,and of course the dis-mounted cavalry.
He's about to get a chopper in him-the last time I fell for that one was when I was doing a Nude Conga at a party!!-the gun and crew is from Warrior's ACW range.
What's left of the column has retired to a nearby hill,and is being assailed by Indians on foot,again note the variety of poses!
Oh dear!!
Two final shots of the Tipi's I made(18 in total) from paper and cocktail sticks and just a little UHU glue
I am looking forward to rolling this period out to the club,once I've come up with a few "extra" rules to cover the peculiarities of the period.
I have also been working on another "project" but won't be revealing it until 2019!!
We attended the Border Reiver show on Saturday,and I can report that it was,as usual , a great success! All of the traders I talked to were doing well,and the games put on were of a very high quality-especially the "Pirate" game being played on an 18 foot table!!!!-apparently they have been invited to put the same game on at Falkirk next May.
Other games included WW2,Samurai,Bronze Age ships(spectacular!)Futuristic,Wild West,etc.etc. and of course our Napoleonic game!!
The catering side seemed to be doing well,and the "footfall" had increased from last year-so all in all a great day out-forgot to mention the Bring and Buy-that was busy all day too.
Top photo shows our table just as the doors opened,and bottom photo shows the display at the end of our table.
This was the first year that I haven't organised the game,leaving it to Dave,who did a fantastic job-figures,terrain,scenario were all down to him,plus a healthy contribution from Graham,who provided the Austrians-well done lads!
Two general views of the Hall,c/w Brian looking to the Heavens for inspiration!!But what of our game?
Well',it got off to a cracking start,by a mass cavalry charge in the centre,plus an attack on both towns situated on the flanks-it looked great and we got an awful lot of good comments,one,in particular, was that it was "good old-fashioned wargaming,as it was meant to be"-I loved that!!
Top photo shows Graham's Austrians storming the town,and driving the French out-hurrah!
Bottom photo shows the Prussians storming the other town and driving the French out-another hurrah!!
The mass cavalry battle in the centre has fought itself to a stand-still,but with both Flanks taken,the Austro/Prussians were declared the winners!!
Time to pack up,but still we are getting people asking about our game and rules etc.
A big thank-you to the organisers,and friends old and new-we'll be back next year!
