It ain't half hot mum game.

 I played this game as a solo effort,and once again a great time was had by all(me!!)

The battle begins,rotten fire from the British guns did little damage to the quickly advancing hordes-my cavalry advances to stop the Dervish and Haddendowah camels and horse,big mistake!!

The "hordes" are getting closer,the British rifle fire is taking its toll,but there's thousands of 'em!

Contact has been made-my (British) cavalry have been trounced and the hordes are attacking the square-however my men are made of stern stuff(and lead!) and will not give way-hurrah!

Both squares are being attacked,and successfully holding their own(steady!)-it looks like the Dervishers have had it....................

One bit of success for the Dervish cavalry and camels-surrounding my last cavalry-lost to a man!

These solo games are always interesting and problems arrive which have to be solved-after a couple of hours I decided that the best thing the Dervish could do was to regroup,and fight again another day!

French WW1 15mm army.

 Yesterday my French WW1 army arrived from Lancashire Games(in record time!)-lovely figures with exceptional detail(which I will,unfortunately, have to ignore(poor eyes-poor excuse!).

A large pile of lead!

Undercoated and ready to go when dry.

A couple of "test" figures,quickly painted so I know where to apply the paint and which brush to use,also what detail to ignore!!!-I will start the first batch tomorrow-with my speed painting technique,the whole lot shouldn't take me long(when I say speed painting I just mean slosh the paint on and hope for the best!)

It ain't half hot mum!

 Next Wednesday,if Paul is available,we will be playing a Colonial Sudanese game.

Table setup,and Dervish hordes leaving the town,possibly to attack the British squares.

Grand old British squares-they'll beat anything thrown against them(?)

Like ants out of a disturbed nest!!

Some are even riding camels!!

Some "sad" Egyptians who have had to retire(it's good being retired!) to a nearby fort to escape the wrath of the Dervishers-point of the scenario!!

Looking forward to this one.

Dead Dog Junction(Paul's perfect plan!)

 Paul's perfect plan,ran rings around me on Wednesday-both flanks taken,centre taken,out gunned,out manoeuvered,better dice throws-he even laughed whilst I cried!!!!

This was a good game despite the whinges from me,Paul's attack was good,his artillery positioning was good,and his dice throwing was good-if I threw a 4,he would throw a 5,if I threw a 7 he would throw an 8!

However the photographs will tell the tale.........................

The attack on my defensive positions begin(his hands are at it again!)

My left flank under serious assault,despite the cover of the trees,I was being trounced!

He's in the town,I am taking too many casualties to hold it-will I have to retire?(its good being retired!)

Centre gone,left flank gone,town captured-woe is me!!

The sorry state of the Confederate army is evident from this final shot!-Well done to Paul,I'm off to polish my dice(whoa,steady there's no need to be rude!)

Next week,I am planning a Sudanese game-let's see how the "demon dice thrower" copes with thousands of Dervish troops!

Dead Dog Junction.A.C.W.

For our(Paul and I) game this wednesday ,we are fighting an American Civil War game,featuring the little known town of "Dead Dog",which commands a railway junction,vital to both sides for supplies etc.  I have opted to command the Confederates,who are out-numbered,but in a good defensive position in and around the town and junction.

This is the table lay-out,the town is on a slight rise,which will not impede movement-the trees will afford cover,but apart from that it will be plain sailing(???)

The town and the attacking troops-will I be able to hold it?

My troops defending the junction-out-numbered but "fired up"-what could possibly go wrong???

Solo games for two,part two!

 Today Paul and I had a terrific battle,as per previous blog.We both surveyed the table,took stock of what troops we had,and off we went!!

Both sides advancing,Paul(with the most photographed hands in the world!) attacked immediately with his scythed chariots and elephants,with highs and lows against the phalanx-the light skirmishers both did sterling work too.

The companion cavalry did well against the Persian cavalry,mainly because the had a plus two onto their dice-however it was "nip and tuck" for a few of the melees.

On the other flank,things were not going too well,despite the plus two advantage!!

The lonely elephant is holding up my phalanx advance-we'll have to sort that out!-and we did-hurrah!

Paul has moved his mercenary Greeks over to protect the Temple,whilst I am organising my lines.

My phalanx is organised,and Paul has sent his Cardaces infantry in against them.We had the phalanx at plus two onto their dice,and you would think that the phalanx would just roll over the lighter armed Persians-not so!!-this was the best part of the game,and the phalanx nearly came unstuck!!!

The last hope for the Persians-Paul charged the Companion cavalry with last of his reserves-Greek mercenaries-they inflicted massive casualties on the Companions,but in the end they were beaten-another hurrah,and had to retire(its good being retired!)

This was a good tactical game,and could have gone either way-well done to us both.Next week I am planning an American Civil War game.

Solo games for two!!

 Paul and I have been having a couple of games on a wednesday mornings,using my "pom-pom" rules,so far we have been playing only ancients but hopefully we can get to other periods over the next few weeks.

This week we are playing a Macedonian vs Persian game,with Alexander's army having to "re-claim" a temple dedicated to Zeus,which the Persians have desicrated!

This is the table set up,Macedonians on the left,Paul has decided that he would command the Persians.

This is the Temple,that the game is centered around.

The persian army-very colourful,and includes scythed chariots,elephants and mercenary greeks,and lots of cavalry.

The Macedonian army.with Alexander on the small hill-will he lead his companion cavalry forward himself??(no chance!!)

I have been painting two WW1 armies-German and British,and intend playing the very early part of this horrendous war-because I am stretching the limits of history, I am calling it World War John!! If finances permit I might get a French army,just to bring a sense of historical reality into my games.

Both armies,Infantry and machine guns-ignore the Tanks(a moment of madness!!)

Cavalry and artillery.I am having a bit of trouble deciding rules for ranges and movement,but should be up and running soon.