Braddock's Drift 1758

Last night Brian and I had a small but very interesting game,based on Rorke's Drift,but set in the French and Indian wars era.

This is the scenario and map,Brian was the French and Indian commander and I took charge of the British and Rangers.
My plan was fairly simple,I would use my "canoe troops" to attack the French on their hill,whilst defending the "Drift" to the last man!!
Brian's plan was to hit the "canoe troops" as soon as they landed,whilst tying down my defenders,then launch the French at the drift,to secure a victory.

What a peaceful scene this looks!!-this is the table before any movement,note canoes about to paddle down the lake and outflank the French-best laid plans and all that!!

Brian's first attack against the Rangers defending the back of the drift was ferocious!!-after an initial fire fight,he got stuck in,and a melee followed,during which I was pushed back from the fences-my contingency plan was to flee back to the secondary position,which you can just see on the far right of the photo-best laid plans and all that!!!!!

In this shot the canoes are just about to make it to the shore-however the awaiting Indians are about to give them a hostile reception-the French had a gun on their hill,and managed to miss every time they fired-oh how Brian laughed-not!!!!

Oh Dear!! out of the three companies of Rangers,one had to retire along the lakeside,one had to take to its canoes again,and the last one couldn't even land!!-best laid bloody plans and all that!!-However,in the background the French infantry are wading across the river to attack the drift-my wonderful British infantry stopped their little game though! A couple of good volleys saw the retiring back across the river-hurrah!!

I just had to take this "Hurrah" shot-however the Rangers defending the back of the fort have decided to run way-swiftly followed by warbands of scalp hunting savages-things are not looking too good!

As the British infantry send all attackers fleeing back across the river,the Rangers are about to expose the back of the position to the Indians-all is lost-woe is me!!

They are in!!-all is definitely lost-however it was good game,with a good deal of thought on plans etc.-well done Brian-pity about the French gun(which I think he is just about to crush with his right hand!!)
Roll on Thursday,I have challenged Brian to a 1:1,my Pa'arasites versus his Egyptians-what he doesn't know is that I have been building up an almost unstoppable force,which includes my cheap skate chariots-can't wait to see how they perform.

Battle of the Bells 1098AD Spain

We haven't had a game for over a week now,due to illness and Holidays,so last night was always going to be a good one!

These two photo's show the scenario and the table before any moves-Paul and Brian were in charge of the Spaniards,and I was in charge of the Moors-Brian opted for the masses of Spanish cavalry,Paul had the infantry.

The inevitable forward movement of both cavalries is shown here-I was fighting at a disadvantage,because I was lighter types,but Brian's bad dice throwing played a big part in what happened next!!

A mass sprawling melee!!Some I won,some Brian won-splendid looking stuff!!-However my Camel units are just about in position,to make Brian's life quite uncomfortable!!

After a tentative start,both infantry lines are closing in on each other,meanwhile the light troops on the flank are fighting for their lives!!

I have gained a bit of ground,but Paul is never to be under estimated,and he moved a light cavalry unit on to my flank and "harassed" me!!-the swine!
My Black Guard is getting closer to the church with the bells ringing ever louder!!-This tussle went on for about 4 moves,Paul pushing me back,then me turning the tables and pushing him back-proper wargaming!!

The computer has now decided to play "funny buggers",but I will battle on and hope that the photo's I want to put in this blog,will actually appear!!-The above photo shows the demise of Brian's cavalry-my camel unit is busy chasing his other cavalry away behind my own lines!!

This is the fourth attempt to get this photo onto the blog!!-however it was worth it just to show my camels knocking the hell out of Brian's cavalry!!!

The winning move by my Guard cavalry,pushing Paul's elite cavalry back onto the church gates!!-with all of the Spanish cavalry now off the board,and the central infantry battle swinging my way(but not without a few casualties on my side!!) I was declared the winner of this long awaited return to wargaming-roll on Sunday,only Brian and I will be participating as Paul is away for a "dirty weekend" in the Lakes(with his wife!!)

Umbria 216BC-Hannibal vs Maximus

I WOULD SUPPOSE THAT,IN EVERY WARGAMES CLUB IN THE WORLD,THERE WILL BE TIMES WHEN NOT EVERYONE AGREES WITH A TACTIC OR FORMATION ETC. HOWEVER,IT IS HOW THESE DIS-AGREEMENTS ARE SOLVED THAT,IN MY OPINION, SAYS AN AWFUL LOT ABOUT THE PLAYERS AND THE CLUB.
LAST NIGHT WE HAD TWO OCCASIONS WHEN EITHER HANNIBAL OR HIS ROMAN OPPOSITION,DID "CONTROVERSIAL" MOVES,SO WE STOPPED THE GAME,FOR A COUPLE OF MINUTES (LITERALLY) TALKED IT THROUGH,APPLIED WHAT KNOWLEDGE WE HAD,APPLIED A BIT OF LOGIC AND GOOD OLD COMMON SENSE,AND SOLVED THE ISSUE-GREAT STUFF,AND THAT'S ONE OF THE MANY REASONS I ENJOY WARGAMING WITH MY FRIENDS,PAUL AND BRIAN.

Oh I'm back to normal font-I don't understand computers,or how they can change from one thing to another,never mind,what about last night's game?
Paul took the part of Hannibal and his grand mix of troops,and Brian and I took the part of the Romans.

This is the scenario and map,I was facing the dreaded Numidians,Brian controlled the far legion and the fort troops.

This is ageneral shot of the table before any troop movement-look at those lines-perfection,what could change these lovely formations??

The Numidians have burst forth from the trees,and stopped my move towards the fort-I have this sinking feeling!!

Brian's far legion has formed a line,awaiting the Celt/Gallic onslaught,however,there has developed,a large gap between him and the fort-Paul had noticed this,and sent his cavalry and Elephants to see if he could cut Brian off-this is going to be tight!!

In a valiant attempt to stop Paul's cavalry and elephants,Brian has sent his meagre cavalry against them-outnumbered 2:1,he fought a good fight-for a couple of moves,then his morale broke and he was forced to retire!

Meanwhile,my legion is suffering from Paul's hit and run tactics,and he has now brought his Spanish infantry onto my flank,left open when I hastily chased a unit of his Numidian cavalry back to the woods-woe is me(and my legion!!)-Lines are still good though!!!!!!!

We have decided to bring the fort troops out to fill the gap,just in case Paul decides to send his elephants against us-as if!!!!!-Brian is fully engaged with his whole line,against elephants and warbands-come on Brian,you can do it!!

I have managed to wipe out Paul's Spanish troops,using a combination of Princepes and Triarii(yes I had to use the Triarii!!!),but Paul has had the audacity to send some Numidian light infantry against my solid line(which,I must admit,had been weakened by successive waves of javelin throwing cavalry-my god this man knows how to use these mounted devils!!)

Brian sent his velites against the elephants,and made them go "Amok"-however they ran "amok" through our troops!! his cavalry are beating a hasty retreat to the flank,which is doing very well-well done old chap,stout fellow!!-lovely lines in front of the fort-Hannibal was,at this time,having doubts about winning!!

Not a pleasing sight!!Elephants running "Amok"-I've got 16 of these Resin beasts,bought at a market in Newcastle-some would say I got a bargain-however if you're in front of them on the wargames table,I'm not so sure!!!

An impetuous attack against the fort troops,cost Paul's heavy cavalry,heavy casualties,and they were driven back,Brian had secured his flank,and my flank was slowly gaining its composure,ready to mount an attack against the Numidians,so Hannibal threw in the towel and the Romans(to their great relief) were declared the winners.
Great game,very well played-roll on Thursday!

Medieval siege-54mm playtest game

Whilst at Border Reiver show last Saturday,we were asked to put on a demo game at a new show-"Stand To" at Shildon on October 19th 2014,by the show's organiser ,Ken. So last night Paul'Brian and I ran through the game we intend to put on-a variation of Saturday's game,but playing the siege part through.

I was in charge of the Castle and relieving forces of Flemish Knights,Paul was directly opposing the relief force,and Brian was assaulting the Castle.

After a tentative start,the cavalry got to grips on my right flank-Paul was not going to be lured from his hill position,but I was determined to keep moving forward and brave the slings and arrows of outrageous misfortune!!

On move 4 the siege towers made contact with the castle walls,and started the most exciting part of the battle,because I had ordered three units of Knights to "sortie" from the castle as soon as the towers hit the walls.My objective for the sortie troops was to knock out Brian's catapults,being guarded by units of spearmen!!

Whilst the cavalry slug it out on the flanks,my Knights advance towards Paul's position-Paul's very relaxed posture is worrying-why isn't he panicking?

This shows my sortie troops advancing onto Brian's catapults and spearmen,whilst in the background,the first line of infantry have clashed.

Brian's attack on the castle was successful,and within three moves the castle defenders had deserted their posts and fled!!What to do,what to do!!

In the background,Paul's cavalry are giving my cavalry a right old hammering,but on this near flank,I am driving him back,as well as my infantry knights winning in the centre-however with the castle being subjected to all the excesses you would expect from a winning force,all could be lost!!

One final photo,Paul's cavalry are showing their tails,and taking off between the infantry lines,but,as mentioned, the castle was taken,and I had to admit defeat-however defeat is not dishonour!!

This was a good test game,we ironed out s few problems,and we are sure we can put on a good display at Ken's show.

An ancients game is being planned for Sunday-roll on!!

DIY Chariots 2 TutanKumin in person.

Following on from my last blog-DIY Chariots,I have found a figure in my "Rumble Box" which I have made into my fictitious King TutanKumin to lead my fictitious army,the Pa'arasites!!-this is getting silly!!
I also made,using my paper template,another but bigger chariot to get the King from A to B-or to Egypt,in other words-look out Brian,the Pa'arasites are coming!!

I had to caste two wheels and four horses for the Chariot,and the figure had funny pointed ears,and a "wavy" sword blade-so I suspect he could be an ELF!!!!!!!!-however as I painted him he became more and more to like TutanKumin-I think the rum probably had a lot to do with it though!!

Chariot etc is based,and I've even added reins-well,actually brass wire from a wine bottle-drink seems to play a big part in my wargaming!!-You will note that I have filed the ears off the figure and straightened out the sword blade-is there no end to this man's talent?

The finished article,flocked and raring to go-which way's Egypt?-this whole project begs the question,as Cilla Black would say-what's it all about ELFIE!!!(groan,groan again!)
I'm working on some command groups at the moment,and once they are finished I will challege Brian to a game.

Cheap(Skate!) Chariots-or OAP DIY

Most people will know of Nissan,the car producing factory,based up here in the North East,but not many will know of the "Nissanite" chariot producing factory based in Westerhope!!
Being a POP(Poor Old Pensioner) and notoriously mean,and also requiring 12x 25mm chariots,6light and 6 heavy,to face Brian and Dave's "Biblical" armies,I looked at the vehicles on offer from various manufacturers-Bloody Hell!!!!!
Prices ranged from £7.50 to £12 each(these are heart attack prices as far as I am concerned)
So what could I do?Well,using only the materials to hand and a bit of ingenuity,I decided to make my own.
I used a re-cycled birthday card for the bodies,cocktail sticks for the axles,and extra long matchsticks for the poles,plus about a gallon(or litres if you like) of liquid nails and super glue!!
I already had a stock of wheels,both plastic and metal,and some spare horses,and any more I needed I made from my Prince August moulds.
The first step was to make a paper "template",using my Technical Drawing skills gained at school 50 years ago(I just knew it would come in handy some day!!) to test my design-it worked-hurrah!! and production began........

Template and bodies awaiting diagonal cuts to sides.

Cuts made,awaiting wheels and poles-the made up one shows the effect I was after.

Production well under way,however I have run out of wheels,and need a couple of horses.....

Good old Prince August moulds!!I only had to caste 4 wheels and 4 horses,so it wasn't too much of a chore.

Some made up and base painted-bonny colours!! and some getting their poles attached.

Two chariots painted and based-I thinks I may have been carried away with the paint jobs on the wheels!!

All twelve painted and based awaiting crews-I bought some figures at an auction a while ago,and used the "Biblical-looking" ones for the crews.

Two light chariots completed-I was quite pleased with the way they turned out

All twelve flocked and crewed-what they needed was a Pyramid to drive past-so I made one out of spare hardboard,when I had a couple of minutes!!

The finished vehicles,in all their painted glory,trundling past the Pyramid and Sphinxes.
I have decided to call my new army the "Parasites",led by their legendary king,who goes down in history as being the first Egyptian Car Park Attendant-Toot and Come In!!(TutanKumin-groan,groan!)
From design to finished article,including painting the crews,and making the Pyramid,took just two weeks-it's great being retired you know!!
I would love some "feed-back" on my DIY chariots.

Border Reiver Show Report 6.9.14.

We have just got back from the above show,thoroughly exhausted,but happy!!-The show was well attended by both traders and Wargamers,and everyone we spoke to(and that was quite a number!!) all said that they had enjoyed it-well done organisers.
We put on a demo game of 54mm Plastic Medievals,and the comments we received were fantastic,thankyou to all who came and talked to us.
The hall was spacious,which left a lot of room to get around and see the various traders and games,the catering was good,and of course car-parking was free(always a good item!!)-the one small criticism I had was that the organisers were not prominent enough-perhaps a name badge for each next year?-That said we had a great time-roll on next year.

Paul and Brian setting up their side of the board-note the space we had around the table.

Dave setting up our side of the table-we had a Wild West participation game(it has to be said,with no participants!!) on one side,and Tyneside's fantastic Western Front WW1 game on the other-both had put a lot of effort into their presentations-well done.

This is a general shot of the hall just as the doors opened.

Another shot of the hall,showing Tyneside's table and trade stands.

The Siege part of our game seemed to attract a lot of attention,even though we didn't play it through-it just looked interesting!!

One final photo showing a Futuristic game,and more trade stands.
We hope the organisers let us put on a game next year-I'm sure they'll contact us if we can.