Battle of Rosewood Junction.ACW.

This was a 15mm solo game played on Thursday/Friday this week.
I took the part of the Union Commander,and came up with a "cunning plan" which was to advance my central brigades over to my right,hoping that the Confederate commander would weaken his centre,then switch them to attack the centre of the "Reb" line-this would all hinge on the Reb. commander throwing an "odd" dice score,at the appropriate time!

Top photo shows my left units holding the Confederate right-just "messing" them about really!-Bottom photo shows the central brigades advancing on their "feint" attack on the Reb. left anchored on Rosewood.

My right hand brigade is attacking Rosewood,in the top photo.whilst in the bottom photo my main attack has swung into line,ready to attack the Reb. centre-the commander threw an "even" score dice,meaning that he wasn't going to fall for my "cunning plan"-damn it all man,that's not fair!!!

My left flank cavalry are moving to attempt to make the Rebs attack me with their cavalry,meanwhile the infantry are just looking at each other!!

The Confederate cavalry have risen to the bait,and a good old melee took place,which the Union cavalry wish it hadn't-ie. they were soundly "thrashed!"-in the background you can see that the Union centre troops are making headway,and the Reb. centre is looking shaky!!

Top shows the Union cavalry being pushed back into their infantry,bottom shows the Union "Zouaves" forcing a gap in the Reb lines-this proved to be the undoing of the Confederate infantry,who took a morale test and decided to go home!!

The defenders of Rosewwod are in danger of being cut off,the also decided to flee,leaving the result of the game in no doubt-a Union victory-hurrah!!

Top is a view of the whole table at the end of the game-the Reb cavalry have also decided to retire(it's good being retired!)-bottom photo is my simple scoring/casualty system,showing the Union win!
A very enjoyable way to relieve the boredom of "Lock-down syndrome!!-Maybe an Ancients game next!

Painting and club update.

This Coronavirus thingy isn't going to get me down-I've been painting my "Auxiliary" legion,and now have only two cohorts to do!!-I get alot of satisfaction from making and painting these Prince August figures.......................

I am painting the cohorts in what can only be described as "bonny" colours!-although the cast figures are actually Legionaires,I am painting over the Lorica Segmentata,and adding oval shields,so will,I am sure, get away with presenting them as Auxiliary troops-my aim at the moment is to get them finished as soon as possible,so I can refight the battle of Mons Graupius,AD83,somewhere in Scotland(actual battle site is disputed!)

Top photo-Awesome sight,and that's just 6 of them!-bottom is detail showing "bonny" colours.
At the battle of Mons Graupius,the auxiliaries did all of the fighting-and a damned good job they did!!
I have had a couple of solo games ,one involving a Norman army fighting a "Crusader" army,and that turned out to be a great game,if a little one-sided!

Top shows the table lay-out,bottom shows the view from the castle ramparts.

Top shows Crusader cavalry beating the Normans,bottom shows the Crusader infantry beating the Normans!!!

Top shows the triumphant Crusader cavalry,bottom shows the view of the battlefield from the castle ramparts!
I enjoy these encounters,it's the putting away of the figures that gets me down!!
Well,the rest of the "boys" have been busy painting buildings and figures that one day soon(??) will be used,but Brian has gone completely mad(it must be the "lock down" or is it the "lock up?") he has started painting 10mm Napoleonic figures!!!
As reported in my last blog,Charlie Wesencraft is well and being looked after by the lads from his group-I spoke to him today,and he is looking forward to commemorating VE day on Friday-which I hope you all are!
I am planning to play an American Civil War 15mm solo game later on this week................

Top shows the over-all terrain set-up,bottom shows detail of the town and junction of "Rosewood"-the Confederates will be defending,the Union attacking!

Two shots of the table before any movement-should be good!
Lastly,may I wish all a very happy "Star Wars Day"(May the Fourth be with you!)
Stay safe.

Battle of Corvidium 119AD

I've had enough of figure painting for a while,so it's onto good things to do-ie. having a game,albeit a solo game,this game pitted Romans against Britons/Celts,and was a great way to take my mind off all things Coronavirus!!

Top photo shows the scenario(?) bottom shows the simple way I have chosen to keep casualties,I am using the lines/warbands as one unit,ie the first line of Roman cohorts is a unit,a whole warband is a unit etc. etc.

The two armies face each other,before any movement-I had decided to let the Roman auxiliaries attack each hill before the Legion got into a fight,and I used "random movement dice" for the Celts-this proved decisive,in that the Celtic cavalry on their right refused to move,as did the Iceni tribe-this caused a gap between the attacks,which the Romans took full advantage of !!

Top photo shows the Celts ,supported by their Cavalry on their left,moving towards the Farmstead,whilst the bottom photo shows the Coratani tribe moving towards the Romans,unsupported by their cavalry(having refused to move!) In the centre,the legion is advancing at a leisurely pace!!

The Trinovantes have made contact with the Roman first line,whilst the Iceni are playing catch-up,the Trinovantes out-numbered the cohorts,so some of the auxiliaries have turned to support the right of the Roman line-this is going to be tight!!

Top shows the Roman aux. on the left doing very well indeed,but the bottom shows the very tight situation on the far right(farmstead hill). But what of the Legion???

What a melee!!-both tribes are now involved,the second line of cohorts have been thrown in,plus support from the aux.infantry and the reserve cavalry.As it happens some very good dice throws from the Romans(lucky??) put them in a wining situation,and the tribes began to falter,and be driven back-hurrah!!

Top shows the Roman left flank totally secure,but the right flank isn't-the aux. being driven away,the saving grace was that the Trinovantes,in the centre melee,decided to retire(it's good being retired!!) which left the Iceni to face the whole legion by themselves!!-the result was going to be inevitable slaughter!!

There they go-an early bath for you my lads!!-this was the end of the game,and a well deserved,if costly,victory for the Romans.
These games are good,and take up a fair bit of time,but will never replace the banter and comradeship of proper club games-roll on the end to this madness!
Keep safe everyone,and keep commenting!

Swindled

Alas one of our members has suffered the fate that we all try to avoid....

What could this be? 
A corona virus scam...

A banking swindle....

Door step villains?

No. Much more devastating

A swine out there has carried out a deception

A heinous deed that would have statesmen crying out to the public...

Public punishment and recompense

What could have been the cause of such an outrage.. and abuse of a dear friend.. reducing a grown man to wail and dare I say .. utter profanities

The subject of such dastardly acts you ask...

None other than...

Correct... the humble sausage

Poor Brian is mortified.. under sold

Promised yet supplied short of his quota

Woe upon the perpetrator

Varus..bring me back my sausage!

Project up-date,and Coronavirus hair warning!

It's taken me a year or so to grow a "full set" ie. moustache and beard,but yesterday I decided to shave it off and reveal my face to the world again!-However,as my hair is growing at a most ridiculous rate(I tripped over it twice!!) I also decided to cut that too-now comes the warning-Do not let your wife(who is only partially sighted,and has a left hand tremble) talk you into letting her cut it for you!!!!!!

Initial reaction was one of horror-it's all supposed to be the same length!

Oh well,they say the difference between a good haircut and a bad haircut is two weeks-I think I'll just get my whole head shaved!!!

My latest project is coming along "swimmingly"........................................

From this........................

To this in just a few days,plus,as you can see,I am also making some Barbarian types too.

4th cohort on the go,and in the background number 5-I haven't decided yet whether to make a whole legion(10 cohorts) or stick at 5,whilst making and painting some more barbarians-decisions,decisions,decisions!!
Finally,a congratulations to Pendraken(Leo and family) who have taken to producing face shields for the NHS,using their laser cutting machine-marvelous stuff,whilst still producing MDF bases for us wargamers.
Finally,finally,best wishes to my old mate Charlie Wesencraft,who recently moved into a new flat within a sort of sheltered accomodation complex , which has a case of the dreaded virus-keep safe mate!

Ramblings and new project.

To keep myself occupied during my self violation,I have been painting an eclectic mix,found in my "rumble box"-the latest offering are some Successor Phalangites.

These are the little fellas-the hardest job I had with them is hand painting the Stars on their shields,it took me ages!-what do you mean,they look like SASCO chart stickers-as if!!!

Suitably based and flocked,now to add them to the growing number of painted items,on the garage windowsill...........................

What am I going to do with them???-the resident spider(about the size of a mouse!) keeps covering them in his web-hope he dies of lead poisoning-little sod!!
A while back I made some card towers ,walls and houses etc.and just to amuse myself I thought I would put them onto the board along with my card Norman castle......................

Looks quite impressive-I'm sure I could come up with a scenario involving a siege by boats/ships!
Now onto my latest project-an Auxiliary Roman Legion,made from cast-your-own Prince August figures.......................

Casting equipment-molds,clamps and gas(camping for the use of!)

Detail of one of the figures-I chop the extended arm off,attach a suitable auxiliary -type shield,and " lo and behold",a legion is born!!

First two cohorts,one started,the other just about to be under-coated!-I am distinguishing the "officers" by giving them large round shields.
Finally,as I think I've rambled on enough, I would like to sincerely thank all my World Wide readers,who are all going through the same "traumas" as us in the UK-I think it's great that so many people in the world share our great hobby-keep reading and commenting.

Good luck to you all,and keep safe.