Marlburian game 30.1.13 vs Brian

Brian and I had a game this morning (have I mentioned how good it is to be retired?),Spanish and Allies versus Danes,British,and Prussians!!
The scenario was basically an attack against a farmhouse !!

This shot is of the left flank of my Spanish and Allies army,showing the farm,and my cavalry placed over the river.

This gives a good idea of what the rest of the board looked like,with Brian's army arrayed in front of mine.
We both wrote our battle plans,and Brian had decided to attack along my whole front,whilst I had ordered my army to hold the farm,and left flank,but advance slowly with my right flank.

With all guns blazing,Brian has started his attack in ernest,and I was immediately put under pressure when one of my right hand units broke at the first taste of shot!!!
We both put our cavalry to the test on both flanks,Brian being successful on his left,and me being successful on the right (for a while !!)

My left flank being "assailed" by superior numbers of cavalry,after an initial defeat,I pulled my second line back and relied on infantry to keep Brian's cavalry from swamping me.

This shot is of my right flank,we both put a lot of trust in our infantry,and both had success and failure,with troops,who should have stayed and fought,running away !!
Behind the trees on the far right of the picture,our cavalry fought each other to a stand still,for a while,and then Brian's cav. pushed mine back,forcing me to send my reserve squadrons to help,which in turn took pressure off Brian's infantry,allowing him to double up on my infantry.

The farmhouse is just about to be captured by Brian's Prussians in this shot,my right flank was beaten,my left was holding on (just) and the farm was captured,what more could I do ? capitulate that's what!!

This was another good game,played in a good spirit,it's just a pity that I lost-again!!

I have finished painting the Samurai sample sent by Warrior,I have named him the Last Geordie Samurai,Lord Sakakaki.

I have excelled myself by painting the Mon on his back and front,and on his arms!!,Here are some E.C.W. cavalry painted by Brian,plastics (the figures, not Brian!)

More figures,painted by Brian,Danish infantry this time,Front Rank figs-very good,it's just a pity that they "ran away" on their first wargames outing.

roll on Thursday night,another game with both Paul and Brian,It's great being retired!!

Popov's Farm, Russia 1812.

We had a terrific game last night,courtesy of Brian,who devised the scenario,designated the figure numbers,and even wrote out the order sheets.
The scenario consisted of a small French force,9 inf.regiments,2 cavalry units and a horse battery,had to defend a Farm and Barn (full of supplies and gun powder) from and advancing Russian force consisting of 12 inf. regiments,3 cavalry units and a foot battery.

Graham and I were in charge of the French whilst Paul commanded the Russians.

This photo shows the French in the Farm and the rest of the force moving into position,Graham commanded the centre,and I commanded the flanks.

This is a shot of the whole table,with Brian looking on in amazement.
The Russians are advancing in column,and moving into their attack positions,with all of the cavalry on the right flank.Paul had decided to put in a "vigorous" attack on the Farm and our left flank,this was ,eventually, very effective!!

This shows Paul's attack going in on our right flank,he was initially repulsed at the farm,but managed to drive one of Graham's inf. regiments back,to cries of dismay from Graham,however I got a regiment onto the flank of the Russians,and for a while,stabilised the position.

Not content with attacking our right flank,Paul and his Russians had the audacity to attack our left flank too!!
This is a good shot of his battery opening up on our infantry and cavalry,whilst he manoeuvres his cavalry to threaten us and try to force us into square.

In this shot I have managed to get a French infantry regiment to line the river bank,and shoot into the flank of any approaching Russians.This was very successful,and drove a couple of units away,however Paul was persistent in his attack,and very soon had beaten us back across the bridge,and I had to abandon my lovely position on the flank,to join in the melee across the bridge!!

The French are now in trouble!The Russians are pushing us back,and Brian has issued a note to us telling us that the powder in the barn is useless and that we have only limited ammuntion for our guns...Sneaky GIT !!

This is a shot from behind the Farm,the Russians are beating us back across the bridge,and Graham is moving his cavalry forward to support them,and to block Paul from taking us in the rear.

This is a good shot of the Russian attack across our whole front,the farm is holding on, but is being cannistered,whilst the Russians are about to launch themselves on my demoralised infantry.You would have thought that after decades of wargaming, an experienced player wouldn't get caught in line by cavalry.however..........

Homer Simpson has a phrase for this,DOHHHHH !! Yes, Paul's Lancers have caught me in line,and I hang my head in shame,This was the beginning of the end for the French,Paul could now launch his heavy cavalry,and untouched infantry at our rear. HOWEVER..........

I'm not the only Homer Simpson who command troops! Paul was caught by Graham's Lancers whilst advancing in column!!
This really was the end of the game,the French had no troops left to retrieve the situation,the Farm was just about to be captured,our supply and communication line had been cut,by the Russians being over the bridge,and both flanks had collapsed,so Graham and I announced that Paul had won!!

This was a good and well thought out game,our thanks to Brian.Roll on next Sunday,we'll be recreating the Battle of Naseby,1645.

Painting update

The following photographs show some figures I got for Christmas,from my sister,via Irregular Miniatures,I think that, in the hands of a good painter,these figures could be made a real asset to any wargame,from Ancients to say Marlburian/Napoleonic ( not the Barbarians obviously!)

Quite gruesome!,I had fun painting these figures,and added the shields and weapons etc. to make some of the "dead" figs. into Barbarians.

The next photo's are of a sample figure I received from Warrior Miniatures, of a mounted Samurai,I believe they have re-moulded some of the Samurai,worth a look anyway.

The above shots show the figure on "his" painting base,no cleaning up was necessary.

The above show the figure undercoated and ready to paint,I will keep you updated,as and when I get "him" done.

Roll on Thursday,Brian has planned a Napoleonic game for Paul and I.

Testing the new blog.

As I've said many times before,I'm not good with computers,but with instruction from Paul,we'll see......

As you can see,it worked!!! and just how "smug" does this man look????

Still testing,isn't technology wonderful? Yes is the answer,if you have proper tuition.This is a photo from the Marlburian game we had  on the 3rd Jan.2013.

More blogs to follow,can I reiterate my thanks to "Herkybird" for his advice.

Winter in Newcastle

Never mind the news reports about adverse weather conditions across the north of England.

We have been subject to global warming and seem to be a new refuge for migrating animals !

Thought it may cheer up the kids in us all.............

I wonder what effect upon the Roman cavalry will be?

Seven Years War

I'd like to say a big thank you for the advice from one of out valued followers "Herkeybird" who offered advice regarding downloading photos via Google chrome.

As you can see it definitely works!  Three cheers .............. well maybe a thanks will do

You see it's never too late to learn new things!




And speaking of which, I learnt that without additional light the flash ain't good enough for photos.


However, suffice to say that I have taken the opportunity to invest some Xmas money in the buy of the year. Hobbycraft are selling magnified desk lamps at half price (well at Team Valley retail park , Gateshead) for the princely sum of £17 odd.
Reduced from £34 it is an absolute bargain and without it my painting was stalled. Circular florescent tube, no shadows and the ability to see that Front Rank put far too much detail on their fab figures.

Austrian Battalions 4th and 5th in the Paul Army.

I've another 5 battalions and  gun battery to get stuck into next.

 I apologise for not doing them justice. A bit more colour, basing and some fantastic flags from GMB designs and the join the army in waiting.






Hey not too many adverts in this week .................... do you think they've noticed we're going for a sponsorship deal ?.......... ha ha!

Looking forward to Sunday and you'll be able to read and see the results .............. bet Brian is going to have some surprises in store.

Still alive!!

I'm still "battling" with something called Picasa web albums,which should enable me to get photo's onto our blog,however my computer knowledge is "minimal" to say the least,but with a little help from the rest of the "boys" and my son,I might just have it "cracked" by next week.

Because of the cold weather,we haven't been playing too many games lately,but Brian and I have been "play-testing" a revised and shortened version of our morale rules,more of that later,when we have played enough games to warrant showing to the rest of the Group.

Paul has booked up a hotel in Falkirk for May,at a very reasonable price,in fact it's so cheap I think we'll be spending the week end under a bridge,wrapped in plastic bags!!

We are all going down to York,in two weeks time,and then to Middlesbrough for the "Muster" in March,where we are putting on a game.

Paul has bought himself a "lit" magnifying glass to help him paint his Seven Years War figures,so we are expecting results soon,Dave is painting his Tipoo Sultan range of figures,Graham is finishing his WW2 stuff,and has promised to have them on the table "soon".Brian has just received some plastic Marlburian Infantry and cavalry,and he will be starting to paint them as soon as possible,I have finished some Irregular Miniatures wounded,dead and stretcher bearer figures which I got for Christmas,and they look very good.

Roll on Sunday,Brian has organised a Zulu game for us,and I'm looking forward to that and seeing the Group together for the first time this year.

Marlburian game 3.1.13.

The game I have planned for Thursday night,will involve all 5 of us,Paul and I will command the Franco-Bavarian forces and Graham,Dave and Brian will command the Allies (consisting of  Austrian,Danes,Dutch and British) I have put every single Cavalry figure that we possess on the board,and have deliberately chosen Graham and  Paul to command them,simply because  Graham doesn't like commanding them,and Paul always has a sneaky plan up his sleeve,...Start the new year the way you mean to go on,that's what I say!!!!

This is the almost negligible scenario,done deliberately,so that every one has to attack!(except the Bavarians!)

This photo shows the three lines,and reserve of the French cavalry,a further 4squadrons are supporting the Bavarian infantry in the village!

This shows the Bavarians and the village which they had to defend.

This is the Allied cavalry,they matched the French exactly,with another 4 squadrons supporting the troops attacking the village,in total both sides have 20 squadrons.

This shot shows the Allied infantry,Austrians on the left and Anglo-Danish on the right.

An overall view of the table,with Allies on the left and Franco-Bavarians on the right.

After an "incident" on New Year's Eve, involving a wet chamois cloth and a piece of celery,Interpol have asked everyone to look out for the Person below,anyone knowing his identity or whereabouts should inform them,however he is dangerous and should not be approached without the proper health and safety clothing!

And so to the game,Paul and I have developed a new tactic to beat our opposition,Paul discovered that,if you wave your "dipperty stick" around like a demented Harry Potter,you can decapitate and then knock your opponent's command figure off his horse,and I discovered that you can,with a bit of dexterity,manage to poke Brian in the eye,with our artillery range measuring stick!!!! Oh how we laughed!

The game started with action from both sides,the massive cavalry command rolled forward,hell bent on destruction,and the Infantry of Dave and Brian rolled forward towards the village defended by myself.
Because I can't get the bloody computer to let me put some photo's on to the blog,I will describe the battle in detail.The attack on the village was ferocious,by both Dave and Brian,but I managed to hold on with my infantry,my cavalry were assaulted by Brian's cavalry,and my gun over-run,however after a couple of melee's,morale tests dictated that Brian had to fall back,and the pressure was taken off me,for a while.

On the cavalry flank,all hell was let loose,with swirling melee's,move and counter-move,and squadrons being fed into melee's,commanders having to be put in to stop retire moves etc.etc.all dashing stuff,and very exciting.

At one point Graham,again,lost faith and thought all was over for him,however a couple of good throws later and he was on top again! 
meanwhile,back in the village of the damned,both Dave and Brian were pushing forward,and my poor morale eventually let them into the village.With the village taken and our cavalry in a complete mess,we decided to let the Allies have their victory.This was a great game,and the laughs came thick and fast all the way through it,well done lads,roll on Sunday.

This will probably be the last "blog" I do, because I can't work out how to get photo's onto this ridiculous blogger interface.