Fort Invincible-1896.

Last night we had the most interesting and near run thing,pitting a Dervish army against the might of the British Empire,in the Sudan.

This is the terrain map and scenario-Brian was "thrust" into commanding the Fort alone as Dave couldn't make it,but he proved he was more than capable of the task.Graham commanded the right of the Dervish army,Paul the left,and me the centre-what a game it turned into!!

The look of intrepidation was replaced by "smug" satisfaction as soon as Brian realised the effect his massed rifle/gatling/artillery fire had on the Hadendowah and Ansar troops charging at the Fort!!...........................

With screams and yells,the first attack goes in-only to be stalled by "Stalwart Irving", defender of the Empire!!

Top photo shows the second attack developing,bottom photo shows,despite Brian's shouts of "you dusky rascals won't get into my Fort!", THEY DID!!!!-hurrah.

This shows the "returning" 21st Lancers cutting a swathe through Graham's out-flanking Ansars-unfortunately Brian elected to turn the Lancers around and continue the fight-resulting in getting them wiped out!!!(the Lancers had been out scouting and could return,on any move from the bottom left hand corner of the board!!)

By now the Fort was all but surrounded by "dusky rascals" but Brian was doing well to keep them out by "dint" of bayonet,and bloody good dice throwing!!

This shot shows Graham's attack on the rear of the Fort,whilst he is still putting Brian under pressure from the flank-Paul has now defeated the troops in the smaller compound,and things are not looking good for the British.

This shows the larger compound,and the mass melee that followed Graham's assault on it-what he thinks he is going to do with his cavalry,I don't know!!

Brian has,some how,managed to win the mass melee,and the larger compound is secure again!!!
But the smaller compound has been taken by Paul.......................

This shows the sorry state of the smaller compound! With Brian still maintaining his grip on the rest of the Fort,and Graham's troops well and truly beaten(not to mention mine!) a draw was the best result we could hope for!-A great game,we all had to go and have a lie down in a darkened room to recover!!
We won't be playing next Sunday,as we are going on a "road trip" to York-full report will follow.

Anniversary and Game preview.

Today(and tomorrow!) is the anniversary of Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift-I hope you all celebrated in style!!
I have decided to get into the spirit and preview Sunday's game(27th)

Top photo is explanation,bottom photo is the table as the "lads" will see it on arrival-well,it's different(and hopefully exciting!)

The British position-fort Invincible(?)-Brian knows a poem about the desert!!

The Dervish left and centre.

The Dervish right and centre.
This could be a typical colonial game-fast and furious-roll on Sunday!

7YW epic!

Last night we had another 100% turnout for what turned into an epic game/battle,using my Prussians against Paul's Austrians.

This is the terrain map-I didn't have a scenario,as such,only that the hills were half movement,the trees were decorative,and the river could only be crossed via the bridges-the objective for both sides was to capture the enemy's bridge!!

This is the table before any movement-Paul and Graham were the Austrians,and Dave and Brian were the Prussians.

Look at this for a study in organisation,co-ordination and planning!-you would almost swear that they knew what they were doing!!!!

The Prussians extra movement "bonus" caused a bit of an alarm to the Austrians,as a fire-fight ensued in the centre and Dave moved his horse battery,from his left flank into the centre!-marvellous stuff!(and look,the bases fit into the bridges!)

Paul's advance,into a storm of shit,shot and shell,was magnificent to see-wargaming at its best,I think!-but would it prove a bit too "avant garde"-we will see.

Dave has met Paul's advance,and is moving his cuirassiers up in support of his infantry.

In the centre,a lapse of concentration by Brian, has allowed Graham to attack his forward regiment in the flank,destroying it completely!! However his other regiments are giving the Austrians hell!!

By way of revenge,Brian has unleashed his heavy cavalry and is driving  Graham's back.
The fire-fight is on-going,but the Prussians are winning it-this looks bad for the Austrian bridge!!!

All of a sudden,the ground in front of Brian's infantry is void of Austrian troops,and his reserve brigade is starting to advance-this looks like the end for the Austrians,however Paul is still battling away,and holding his own(I know,I know,they can't touch you for it!!)

Paul's flank is now suffering to the point that he is being enfiladed with artillery,and his cavalry and infantry are being beaten-time to capitulate???
YES!! and the Prussians are declared the winners!
This was a great and epic game,played in the right spirit-well done lads.
Roll on next Sunday,no clue as to what we will be playing yet.

A Bridge Too Far?

I blame Dave for this latest project!!-on Sunday he brought up his "Custom-made" bridges,which were 80mm wide.I have had three bridges for about 100 years,and have always found them far too narrow for my bases,so decided to do something about them..................

Top photo shows one of my bridges,in a beautiful scenic setting,just ready for me to march an infantry regiment across it-bottom photo shows the regiment balancing and teetering on the too narrow balustrades!!-big problem,but in my world there are no such things as problems-only solutions!!
So what could I do??

Using only these tools,and a bit of ingenuity, I would widen the bridge(made of resin) to fit my bases.

Having first drawn a line up the middle of the bridge,I got to work with my trusty hacksaw,as shown in top photo-bottom photo shows the two halves,after about ten minutes of sawing.
What these photo's don't show is the range of safety equipment I was wearing,ie. hard hat,goggles,gauntlets and steel-capped safety boots!!!!!!!(liar)

After measuring a piece of cardboard(80mm wide,naturally!) I placed it onto the bridge,ready for sticking with UHU glue(other makes of glue are available!!)

Stuck and ready to be tested................................

Now that looks better!!
I applied the same method to the other two bridges,gave them a "lick" of paint,and hey presto,wide bridges!!

All three ready to go-guess what will feature in Sunday's game???
Any comments?

Carronade test game.

Last night,instead of putting on a game,we play tested and agreed some alterations to my suggested game for Carronade,in May.
I had hinted last week what the game would be,and can now reveal that the consensus of opinion is that my proposed game would be ideal!!-hurrah('cos I have put alot of work into it!!)

This is the info. sheet,which is part of a bigger display,which will be on the end of the table....

This shows the whole display,including authentic,antique, Zulu weapons and shield.
The more observant will also have noticed a cassette player!!!!!!!!!
In the background is Rorke's Drift,manned by "B" company 2/24th foot.

Two shots of the RD model-no Zulus on the board,you'll have to wait until we play the game to see the massed Impis-spectacular!!

Top photo is a bit gruesome!,bottom photo is supposed to be Chard with bugler!
What we didn't know,until last night,was that Dave can play the Bugle,and treated us to "The Last Post",and he will be practicing "The Retreat" for the actual game!!!!

Dave brought along a couple of pieces he had received from "Last Valley"-custom made for him,to let us see-he had asked for the bridges to made to 80mm,to accomodate our bases,and the results are great.....................

Stone bridge(80mm wide)-will easily take our tanks and figures,without balancing them on the parapets of the bridge.

A "clever" wooden bridge-how is it "clever"??-well.................................

The bridge can be removed to show a "ford" or a straight river section-we are impressed!

Finally,Dave painted this lovely "vignette" for Paul-a piece of battlefield ephemera-Napoleonic.

Marvellous!!
We will be playing a 7YW game next Sunday-looking forward to that.

Battle of Rio Loco 1119AD.Spain.

2019 got off to a cracking start last night,with a 100% turnout and a great game involving Spanish and Norman armies fighting to decide who would rule Spain!!

Top photo is the scenario,middle photo shows the Norman army commanded by Paul(on the right flank) and me(on the left flank),whilst the bottom photo shows the Spanish commanded by Brian(right) and Graham(left)-Dave had just come from work,so sat this one out!

In this shot I am moving forward against Brian's defensive position on the river bank-we were evenly matched,so this was always going to be a hard fight.On the other flank,Paul has crossed the river,and as Graham advanced ..............................

A resounding CRUNCH!! as two lines of heavily armoured cavalry charged into each other.
Our plan had been to involve the cavalry,hold up the Spanish,then move the infantry onto Graham's flank-this was working nicely!!

My light infantry are still moving forward,but my cavalry are now heading towards the bridge area,where,it was hoped, the final fight would be-Paul's heavy infantry are making a nuisance of themselves on Graham's flank-so far,hurrah!!-Brian looks grim(so what's new?)- and Dave is looking relaxed-get your hands out of your pockets,where do you think you are man!!!!

Paul's infantry are now in position,on Graham's flank,however the cavalry fight is not going too well!!-come on Paul,what's happened to your usual "in league with the devil" dice throwing????

This photo is taken from Brian's side of the table,and shows my infantry driving his back-is this the breakthrough we need??
On the other flank,Graham launched a counter attack on Paul's infantry,and drove him back-oh dear!!However the Paul "magic" kicked in and high dice score after high dice score followed,completely destroying the morale of the Spanish cavalry-hurrah!!-Victory is within our grasp.

As the infantry slog it out,Paul's cavalry ride rampant over Graham's cavalry-the flank is won!!

Brian's lights are beaten and are retiring,so he threw his heavies into the fray,as did I!!-my cavalry have crossed the river and are beating the Spanish cavalry,whilst my other cavalry unit is out-flanking Brian's line-all is lost, I fear, for the Spanish!!

One final shot,showing Paul's cavalry dominating the flank,and my cavalry about to administer the "coup de grace" on Brian's line.
This was a fitting start to the 2019 wargaming season-a good game,lots of banter,colour and excitement-long may it continue.

At the end of the game,we discussed what we intended doing at Carronade(Falkirk) this May,and I revealed to the "boys" that I had been planning,painting and making a project based on the most famous battle in the history of the British army,which took place 140 years ago,and that I would be putting it on,just as I envisaged it,next week!!-any Guesses????