Battle of "Deux Ponts" 18th century game.

Talk about leaving the best ' til last!!we had a Christmas Cracker of a game last night-all 6 of us!!

This is the scenario and battle map.Dave decided on a two pronged attack on Richard's Irish,whilst being supported by Graham's second Brigade,his first brigade was to occupy the village.Brian was to march forward onto his ridge,bombard my troops then advance and capture my ridge!!-Simple....
Richard had decided to occupy his ridge and stand to prevent Dave from capturing it,supported by Paul's cavalry and infantry-he would not attack the village until the main line was engaged-and I was to advance and capture Brian's ridge.Simple...

Dave,Graham and Brian,looking like something out of  the Lidl advert,whilst........

Me,Paul and Richard,looking like something out of a Gorgio Armani advert!!
All troops lined up and ready to go.

The initial moves,Paul is "feinting" an attack on the village,forcing Graham to put a whole brigade into it-they remained there the whole game!!Richard has lined the crest of his ridge,and Dave has started his attacks,Brian and I are bombarding each other with very little success,but my Bavarians are moving forward

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In this shot Dave is really pushing his attack,Richard's colonel is riding up and down the line shouting for his men to stand firm against infantry and cavalry-can he hold on? will Paul support him in time?.......

A resounding YES was heard,Richard's Irish stood firm,and Paul is helping him out on the flank-this was hard pounding and nail biting stuff,officers were falling like nine pins,but morale was holding-hurrah!!

Dave needs support,where is it?-well mainly holed up in the village(probably singing YMCA!!) Graham is contemplating whether to help Dave or Brian-he chose Dave,and Brian was left to hold his ridge and the gap between the village and his ridge alone!!

The inevitable cavalry clash is taking place in this shot-I was outnumbered 3 to 2,but Paul sent me a squadron of his Paris dragoons,and this swung the balance to me,I eventually won the cavalry melee,and forced Brian back-meanwhile my infantry were being shot to pieces by Brian's Danes-could I hold out long enough for my victorious cavalry to reform and charge the ridge??

YES!! in this shot I am about to charge Brian's gun,and infantry in column,Paul is Master of the Middle and Richard is still on his ridge,so the Gorgio Armani Trio were declared the winners-hurrah again!!

This was a fantastic game and a fitting one to end the year on-well done to us all(I sound a bit like Tiny Tim!!)

We all left with kind wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year ringing in our ears-thanks for the cards,wishes and pressies lads-see you all in 2014-merry Christmas everyone.

Caesar vs Pompey-Egypt 49BC

Last night the 3 musketeers (Brian,Paul and I) had an Ancients game that was so engrossing and lively that I forgot to take any action photo's......

This is the board before any movement,Pompey (Brian and Paul) on the left and Caesar (me) on the right.
It turned out that Brian commanded the troops nearest the camera,and Paul commanded the centre and far left.There was no complicated scenario-just a straight "bash!!"-and what a "bash" it turned out to be!!

Again this is the board before any movement,but from my side of the table.Paul had a legion in and around a small village-however he elected to come out of it and attack me!!
On my far right I managed to get my velites and cavalry in a most advantageous position and just about ruined Paul's cavalry before they got anywhere near me-hurrah!!
BUT, in the centre and my left flank,things did not go as well-in other words I was "hammered",BUT,due to lack of documentary evidence-I will put this forward as a WIN!!-Brian and Paul may want to query this decision,but I'm writing the blog and it's Christmas!!

Two photo's of my latest infantry for the "El Cid Moors"........

I'm knocking these out at a rate of knots,both cavalry and infantry,and my target of February 2014 is within sight!!
Roll on Sunday,I'm planning a large Marlburian game,and we should have a full house of 6-it's the last game before Christmas, so it'll be mince pies and daft hats all round!!
I would like to say a big thank you to all of you out there who read the blog every week,and wish you all a very merry Christmas and a healthy and peaceful New Year.

Ben Arfa 1BC Arabia

The "fab four" played tonight,Graham,Richard,Brian and I-the game was based on historic events which took place in Arabia in 1BC.

This is the scenario,Graham commanded Legio 3,I commanded Legio 1, whilst Brian commanded the tribes,and Richard commanded the town of Ben Arfa and some of the Allies.

Graham had been told to attack the town and the Allies,whilst I attacked the water hole and the tribes.

This shows the table before any movement,my troops are nearest the camera,facing Brian,Graham and Richard are facing each other at the far end of the table.

Graham couldn't wait to get stuck in with his auxilliaries,and charged straight at the town,defeating Richards poor troops in the first round of melee,however Richard then began a string of high dice throws,much to Graham's "chagrine"-well he was certainly "shagged" that's for sure!!!!

In the centre all hell was let loose,both sides attacking as if there was no tomorrow!

My front line and Graham's front line have clashed with Brian and Richard's first lines,we fought for two rounds of melee before any morale was taken-I was initially pushed back but Graham was successful on his flank,so,evens so far!!

Graham,despite being beaten in the second melee,stuck to his guns and was beaten in the third,and fourth melees too!! after taking morale he was swept off the board!! oh dear. Graham sent his cavalry crashing into Richard's cavalry,and was beaten-looks like a trend is begining to emerge here!!

Brian and I are knocking hell out of each other,and he sent his elite Cataphract unit against my heavy cavalry,however I have "sneakily" sent my second line of cavalry out on a wide out-flanking move,as you can see in the photo! I promised I would play this fantastic move down,so no more will be said about me surrounding the Cataphracts,and forcing them to surrender-not another word,nothing at all,my lips are sealed,no more mention of it!!

Richard's cavalry have overcome Graham's cavalry,exposing his second line cohorts-the figures on the edge of the table are all "dead"-they just haven't been taken off yet--we are in trouble now!!

OOPS, my mistake, I didn't mean to print this photo showing me surrounding and forcing Brian's Cataphracts to surrender-just ignore it!!

This shows Brian "gloating" because,after my fabulous success of surrounding and forcing his Cataphracts to surrender,his tribesmen beat my cohorts and forced them to retire-lucky dice I say!!

Graham has been forced into square,Richard's cavalry is "rampant",and he has the nerve to send reinforcements!! this flank is lost,woe is us!!

My cavalry have won this flank,but with my infantry gone and Graham about to kill himself(!) we decided that the Arab and Allies had won the game!!

This was a different type of game,but very enjoyable,with loads of movement,and melees which could have gone either way-good stuff!!

Roll on Thursday-2 games??

Painting update and 18th Century game 12.12.13.

Brian Dave and I had a tremendous game this morning,consisting of me and Brian defending a hill,gun position and farm against Dave,who attacked us with "gusto" cunning and guile-that's a fancy way of saying he gave us a damned good thrashing!!

This is the table before any movement,Brian and I are on the left,Brian holding the near flank and I the far flank.

My far left flank is shown here,loads of cavalry!!I didn't advance as quickly as I should have,and allowed Dave to block the gap,and send an infantry regiment to supplement his cavalry,whilst moving a couple of squadrons to the centre-this was ultimately to be my downfall,as he eventually attacked my infantry trying to form up!! the swine!!

In this shot Dave is planning my demise,and expertly moving his figures around to confound me.
Dave's plan was good,he wanted to contest the windmill hill,but attack the farm and Brian's flank with as many troops as he could muster,his use of artillery was exceptional,his use of cavalry was exceptional,as was his use of infantry-however his dice throwing skills were not exceptional-hurrah!!

Dave's attacks are going in on Brian's flank and the farm area in this photo,Brian did well with his gun beside the farm,however it does look as though his yellow-coated infantry are showing too much flank to Dave's troops!!

This shows the cavalry battle in full swing,I was successful and pushed him back but was counter-attacked and I was pushed back,luckily my reserves are in a good position!!

This photo gives a good indication of the fighting going on ,on the far right flank,however Dave's cavalry are about to do Brian no good at all!!

My front line troops are just about at breaking point in this shot,and my British reserves have not yet formed a line,I hope Dave doesn't charge with his cavalry!!-He wouldn't would he??

Well yes he would and he did!! not only on my flank,but on Brian's flank too!! As we were both in disarray,and Dave had taken two of his three objectives he was declared the winner-Brian didn't even ask for a draw!!

This was a really good game,and gave both sides a few headaches,but in the end exceptional Dave,as we will call him from now on, proved that he still has it,even though he doesn't get along that often to play.-well done to us all though.

Brian and Dave have been painting their respective Egyptian and Hittite armies,Dave brought these figures up to show us............

Pretty good!! full of movement and colour,cracking figures,and bloody well painted,and now for mine!!...........

Spanish on the left and Moors on the right,with Black Guard in the background.

The Black Guard,looking very black!! Infantry,Cavalry and Archers.

Top photo shows Moorish cavalry,bottom photo shows Spanish cavalry-all very colourful,easy to paint(in my style)-can't wait to get them all finished and on the table.
Roll on Sunday,probably an Ancients game.

Dacian wars 101 AD

Last night we had a very interesting and problematic game,Romans vs Dacians,Paul and Brian took command of the Romans whilst I took command of the Dacians.

These two photo's show the scenario and initial troop dispositions,I had set the game up so that there would be two "fronts" to fight on,but Paul decided to march his troops across the bridge onto Brian's side,and threw my whole battle plan out of the window-ho hum!!

My left flank is shown here "chasing" Paul's troops,but never being able to catch them!! My centre troops are just about to charge Brian's,and my "Fanatics" are lurking on their flank,whilst on the other flank it's all action,with infantry and cavalry getting engaged!!-Brian looks quite pleased with himself in this shot!!

Both Brian and I are getting stuck in here,my warbands and cavalry are all winning-things are looking good-this normally means I'm due for a shock!!

My first line of warbands has been beaten in the centre,but luckily I have a reserve,the troops on the far side of the stream are just spectators!!

I have driven off Brian's cohorts in this shot,however he has beaten my Sarmatian cavalry,and could threaten my rear,in the centre my reserves are giving Paul's cohorts a difficult time of it-he had to resort to sending in the cavalry (sounds like a line from a Christmas song!!)

Paul's combination of infantry and cavalry is shown here,this was a good move,but created some problems as to where the casualties were coming off,and what now constituted the "line"-however we resolve these issues as we play,which is why I enjoy Thursday  games better than Sundays.

The final shot,My infantry are regrouping and supporting my,under pressure, cavalry,the centre is in the balance,and the far flank is still in "stalemate",although I am moving my German allies over the stream,so really I don't know who won-not decisive enough!!
Still a good game full of laughs and good and bad dice throws,problems will eventually be solved etc. etc.

Won't be playing on Sunday,so roll on next week.

Fort Ricardo 1710.

Even Graham's late cancellation couldn't stop this game from being a "Classic" I had to re-jig the sides putting Paul in charge of the Irish,Richard in charge of the Bavarians,Brian in charge of the Danes,and myself in charge of the Spanish and Austrians.

The simple scenario,showing initial troop dispositions,Brian had to ride to the terrain on his left to see if it was long grass or marsh,then ride back and tell his infantry general before the infantry could move forward-it turned out to be long grass,which halved moves but did not disorder!!

This is a shot of the general layout of the board before any movement,Paul's and Richard's strong defensive positions are quite clear-this would be one hell of a task for Brian and I!!

This is Fort Ricardo,being defended by a gun battery and a regiment of Bavarian infantry-a very hard nut to crack!! My Austrians were given the task,and after two assaults were successful,then Paul counter-attacked and drove me out again!! I attacked along the whole front of the defences facing me,and was severely "mauled" by a combination of cannister fire and volley fire.

This shows my attacks on the fort and the defences,Brian was slowly advancing against Richard's part of the line with his infantry,and his cavalry was negotiating the long grass terrain-if he could beat the Bavarian cavalry on that flank,he could win the game-hurrah!!

In this shot Paul has sent his cavalry forward to try and stop my line from advancing,I countered with my cavalry,and a "ding-dong " battle ensued,swaying first one way then the other-fantastic stuff!!

Brian's Danes have marched half way up the hill,and are giving the Bavarians a volley before they complete their charge! Although Brian's troops "bounced",he persisted and his second line eventually got to grips with the defenders....But what is happening with the cavalry(apparently being led by General Von Tardy!!)?????????

Oh there they are!! After collecting Flora and Fauna from the long grass terrain,they eventually clashed into Richard's cavalry and gave them a "bloody nose" forcing them to give ground,this was the move of the game causing Richard to look for the reserve cavalry to help him,BUT,Paul had decided to take the reserves for himself,leaving poor Richard all alone!!

Look at the lovely position of Brian's cavalry-just about to reform and threaten the whole of Richard's position-well done matey!! Brian's infantry are pressing against the defences as well-is there no limit to this man's abilities??

The final shot,showing the end positions,the fort is still in Irish hands now,but the flank is being assailed by my remaining Spanish infantry,so with both flanks in real danger,Brian and I were declared the winners-hurrah again!!
This was truly classic game,neither side could claim a victory until the last two moves-there was a considerable amount of "gloating" from the Danish commander,plus some epic dice throwing from Richard and Paul,which all combined to make this a memorable game-well done lads!!
Roll on Thursday-probably only one game,but it will be awesome too!!