Legio Nova's Maiden Battle.29.6.2012.vs Paul

Let me introduce you to Legio Nova,possibly the greatest fighting machine ever to be put onto a wargames table-well, until last night !when a horrible bunch of Barbarians beat the c--p out of them!!
This shot shows most of the Legion,Prince August mould -your-own figures,before the game started,very pretty. A close up shot of the cohorts,simple but effective paint job.

Yeah,yeah,very pretty,we get the idea.My position was weak on the flanks but very strong in the centre,Paul was strong througout his whole army and used his troop types well,to pin my centre and attack my left flank,which was held by auxilliaries and some cavalry,he crushed this flank in a very short space of time!!

This shows Paul's pinning move,his warbands moving up slowly,whilst his right flank troops moved against my aux.infantry in the background.

Eventually,when both my flanks were engaged,the Barbarians attacked my legion,in the first few melees I was successful,but weight of numbers and some Diabolical dice throwing (it's funny how we always blame bad dice throws,isn't it?) saw the legion being slowly forced back in the centre.

This shot shows my left flank heavily engaged and outnumbered,and eventually surrounded!

This is my right flank,consisting of good cavalry,and good aux. infantry,in a good position,Paul hesitated to attack this flank until my centre was in trouble,the tactic paid off, and the cohort I was sending to this flank,had to turn around and defend itself instead.

The battle in full swing in the centre,my left flank has just collapsed,and the warbands can just be seen coming round the mountain (that could be a song!)

This scene shows the position at the end of the game,my right flank is ok,for the time but my centre has gone, as well as my left flank,so it's back to Rome and report a victory!!!!!

this was as usual a great game ,good fun,and of course it's always good to see an untried army on the board for the first time,even though it was beaten.

No game this Sunday-football final,but roll on next week.

American Civil War game 26.6.2012. vs Dave.

After suffering severe depression and withdrawal symptoms from not playing on Sunday,I was relieved when Dave suggested a Day-Game today.Dave brought along his American Civil War figs,I knocked up a scenario and map,and away we go!!
Below is the scenario and troops we used,a simple attack and defence game,which turned out to be a "WOW" game. This is the map we both worked to,troops were positioned and orders written,the game started at 10.30 and finished at 1.00pm, with 11 moves being played.

This shows the overall board viewd from the Confederate side,the Union troops started about half way from the far edge.

This shot shows the view the Union General (Dave) had of his objective,ie the Mill.

Union troops on the move,4 separate columns with guns and cavalry supporting,very impressive.

Confederate troops moving to take up their positions,a stiring sight!!

Dave's first attack being "thwarted",the Union troops in this sector (the ford) were "raw" and did not fare well,being cannistered and shot at by Rebs,who were determined to hold onto their hill.

This photo shows the Union attack on the bridge area on the Reb's right flank,after a long struggle they were successful and the Rebs were driven back with heavy losses.

This shows the Mill and defenders,awaiting the Union onslaught,which didn't materialise,although a well placed Union battery did some damage to the central position .

Confederate troops under so much pressure,that if they had been a bunch of grapes they would have beeen a glass of wine by now!!

This shows the final stage of the game ,with the Union centre about to launch an attack against the thinly held Rebel line,note relaxed posture of Dave!

WE both enjoyed this game and it was decided that we will have more A.C.W. games in the future,Dave took some extra photographs on his 'phone, and he will post them later as "eye candy".

Roll on Thursday !!

Maharatta Infantry

I (Dave) have finished adding the flag and basing my first infantry unit. They are Mahratta regular infantry of the army of Daolat Rao Scindia and will be led by Colonel Pohlman commanding from the back of an elephant. Pohlman is painted and is awaiting the arrival of his elephant. The flag I have chosen has an elephant motif and the other battalions in the compoo will also have the same motif, although the flags will reflect the turban colour of the unit.

I am quite pleased at how the basing has turned out. I wanted to try and capture the Indian hot, dry earth but with patches of greenery. I may in the future add sum grass tufts of more autumnal colours. Still I am pleased with my first attempts at more then simple flocking.

Next up for basing is the Red Turban battalion, they already have their flag attached, followed by the Orange Turbans. As I have said before, the Mahratta regulars will be colour identified which is perfect for the failing eyesight of the group! (figures by Redoubt and flag by The Virtual Armchair General).

Ancient game,Germans vs Romans.21.6.2012.

Thursday's game was set around 9AD just after Arminius the German had wiped out 3 full legions in the Teutoburgerwald forest.The scenario was that Arminius was coming to wipe out the last frontier post,being defended by Auxilliaries.Paul was the German commander and I was the Roman commander.
The photo below shows the Roman set up before the game started,solid lines of infantry,backed up by cavalry,with a strong contingent in the fort consisting of archers and catapults, what could possibly go wrong? Well, this shot shows what could possibly go wrong!! Germans,thousands of them!!

This is ARMINIUS,leading his tribes forward,a converted figure from Warrior.

This is the Roman commander,safely observing the battle from the safety(?) of the fort.

My Roman cav. caught the leading warband of the Cheruchi crossing the stream and inflicted heavy losses on them,I then retired the cav. and replaced them with infantry,however the ever increasing numbers of Germans began to tell and I was forced back.

This shows the German attack on my left flank by the Tencteri tribe , who we classed as "raw",my infantry made "mince meat" of them,but Paul had backed them up with first class veterans,the Suebi,who made "mince meat" of my troops!

This shows a general picture early on during the game,with the Germans just attacking my left flank,with the other tribes moving to attack along my whole front

This is Paul's attack by his Lemovi tribe against my centre,in the background the heavy Roman cav. are retiring,they eventually reformed and charged back into the Germans,and held on for a while until being wiped out!

This is the final shot,very few Romans to be seen,apart from the fort defenders.

Once again, a very enjoyable game,and a fitting end to a week of wargaming.We won't be playing on Sunday because of the football,but I'm trying to arrange a day game with Dave early on in the week,which should be good-25mm American Civil War.

Another Napoleonic,19.6.2012.vs Alan

It's great being retired! It means I can have two great wargames in two days,both Napoleonic and both touch and go til the last move.
My mate Alan came down today and we played this game,Alan is a "wily" opponent and I needed my wits about me just to try and fathom out what he was going to do,his movement and tactics were,as always, sound and he eventually overwhelmed my defences and drove me off the board.
Alan was the French commander (Napoleon) and I was the British commander (Wellington).I thought I would include this photo of my Rocket Battery, just to show it was actually on the board,@cos it sure as hell didn't hit anything!! This shows the relative positions of both forces,with the French just about to start their attack.Alan began with a good assault on my left flank,I had positioned some Rifles on a low hill to my front,they took one shot and retired,however the only way they could go was across the front of my battery on that flank,so it couldn't fire for two moves,this was a serious mistake on my part and I deduced it was the reason I was so thoroughly beaten on this flank.

The French on the move,echeloned attack columns with guns and cavalry on the flanks.

This shows my whole position,which should have been imprenable but for the mistake on my left flank!

The French attack on my centre being stopped by volley fire.

Alan's mass attack on my right flank,which was guarded by light cav. horse art. and inf.Wellington is sheltering in the farm.

"Charge the Greys" a successful attack by my heavies,which was countered by Lancers,who eventually forced the Greys to retire!!

I was quite "chuffed" with this outflanking move by my Light cav.Alan wasn't,it proved to be very successful and for a while it looked as though I might actually hold this flank-dream on was the cry!!

This shot shows the mass cavalry melee in the British centre,after much to-ing and fro-ing,the French got the better of my cavalry,and a morale test saw them moving in a "rearwards direction".

This a most disgraceful photo of the Scots Greys and a bunch of infantry making their way to the rear and heralded the end of the game,with the French victorious but bloodied.

This is the "Coup de Grace" the French Guard attacking the British HQ,ie the farmhouse where Wellingto was observing the battle from,it was such a forgone conclusion that we didn't even bother to fight the melee!!

Thre's always thursday to look forward to!

197th Anniversary game 17.6.2012.Napoleonic.

I suppose like every wargames club in the world,this weekend was special,and to mark the 197th Anniversary of Waterloo,we decided to put on a Napoleonic game based on Napoleon's retreat from Waterloo,with quite a bit of Historical licence!!
The scenario was that a blocking force of Brunswickers,reinforced by a force of Prussians was denying the French army access to the road to Paris.This simple scenario turned out to be the best Napoleonic game we've had for a long time.John was the Prussian commander,who came onto the board on move number 3,to assist the Brunswickers commanded by Graham,Paul was,just for tonight,Napoleon.
Below is the scenario,a very difficult task for Paul,however he did outnumber us, and for a while gave us a damned good licking. This is the little fella,with his Guard,surveying the battle field from the safety of a farm.

This shows the French left flank and centre, before the Brunswickers had been "delivered" by Graham,you can see the Prussians on the table but unable to move until move 3.

This is the view the French right flank had over the board.

The French begining to advance along the whole front,giving both Graham and I alot of trouble.

Fire fighting along the Brunswick right flank,Paul brought his guns up close and gave Graham a terrible pounding until I could relieve some of the pressure by bringing up some Cavalry to threaten the guns.

Paul (Napoleon for the night) looking too smug for his own good,whilst guns and muskets are blasting away on the Brunswick troops.

Napoleon (Paul for tonight only) supervising his troops and feinting them towards a "ford" held by the Prussians,this was seen only as a feint and countered by horse art,and inf. fire.(note new flag in background,gift for father's day from daughter)

Prussian cav. gathering ready to charge any French who came within their reach.

It's that new flag again,with Paul's feint to the ford in full swing,as though I was going to fall for that!!

A column of infantry has crossed the stream and after Graham's attempt to stop them with musket fire failed,a melee developed,another melee is in progress in the distance,Lancers against heavy dragoons,Dragoons won,but then were cannistered(dirty trick!) and were destroyed.

After morale was checked both sides were in a bit of bother,however the Prussians were still strong and were able to send troops to the right flank,whilst still holding the left flank,only a token Brunswick force was left,and so the French were declared the "losers" and Paul could resume his true identity until the next game!

Everything taken into account this was a great game and we all enjoyed it.