The "fab four" had what can only be described as an amazing ACW game yesterday-we started at 10.30AM and finished at approx. 3.00PM and got 14 moves completed! that was in between Oxo's and nibbles and a load of laughs-great stuff to blow away the Christmas excesses!!
This is the scenario and table before any movement-Paul was Grant,I was McClellan,Brian was Lee and Dave was Jackson-my reinforcements were due on the board on move number 5,and then both sides got reinforcements on move number 10.
Paul surprised everyone by abandoning his positions and moved forward to deny Brian the cover-this is going to be serious stuff,but Brian swept forward through shit,shot and shell,and made a good attempt to force Paul's flanks.
Things were pretty quiet on my flank-Dave and I moved our troops into position,then the "Chatanooga Choo Choo" arrived carrying two brigades-I now had 3 brigades against Dave's 2-hurrah!!-but could he hold the line??
The top photo shows Dave's flank,with Jackson hurrying his troops into position to stem the veritable "flood" of union troops-he placed his artillery just out of shot on the far right of the photo,and it did untold damage to my third brigade as it descended down the hill from the rail track.
The bottom photo shows Brian's attempt at out flanking Paul-this very nearly came off,but was stopped by Paul deploying a gun battery on the flank of the advancing "Rebs"-yee hah!!
The top photo shows the battlefield on move number 11-Lee and Jackson look worried!
The bottom photo shows Paul's reinforcements progressing against Brian's flank,and giving him hell-hurrah!!!
The fight for the "cornfield" continues on my flank-although I had more troops than Dave,I was not making much headway-probably just a matter of time though(?)-Paul and Brian had fought each other to a standstill in the centre-but each was in the process of capturing a flank(Brian,our left,Paul their left!!)-so,because it is still the Christmas season of "Good Will",a draw was declared-the relief is clear to see...............
On the Confederate side at least!!!
Well done us,a great game,very exciting,and fast paced-with 21 regiments and 3 batteries per side,this was a fairly big game which ran smoothly due to the fantastic organisation-I wonder who organised it!!!-The biggest laugh of the game was when Brian suddenly realised that he hadn't read his "blurb" on the battle(attached to his clip board!) and hadn't realised that he had reinforcements coming onto the board on move 10-oh how we laughed!!
Roll on Friday-another all day game,probably Ancients.
I thought I might share some of my Xmas joy with you all.........
The "usual" pressies that a man gets at Xmas-after-shave,socks,undies,booze-but what's that lying in front of them?
It's only a replica 1st century Roman Gladius,that's all!!-I am well chuffed.
Detail on the scabbard is excellent-who else but a great wife would have thought of a present like this?
The next Roman game is going to be interesting-especially if I am losing!!!!
Last night the "Fab Four",Dave,Paul,Brian and I had a very intriguing Marlburian game.
We picked sides and Brian was in command of the Irish,Paul was in charge of the Bavarians,whilst Dave commanded the centre and right of the Danes,and|I took charge of the left.
Brian had a most difficult task crossing the river,because not all three sections were crossable!!-this shows his regiments having to change direction,as only one section was crossable(he had picked pieces of paper marked"yes" and "no" and placed them,face down of course, on the river sections)
My cavalry can be seen moving into position to block access to the bridge.
This shows Dave's advance into the "Valley of Death"-he marched forward and formed up,then Paul unleashed his master stroke,and extended his line,using his back line regiments,and in one move had out-flanked the Danes!!-So,as usual,it was up to me to save the day-oh hell!!!
I have told all the "boys" that if they want their photograph taken they must salute me,which is why Paul is saluting!!
My infantry are attempting to storm the ridge,supported by my other cavalry-this was a disaster for the infantry,but fairly successful for the cavalry who managed to capture Brian's artillery placed on the ridge-HURRAH!!
My cavalry have stopped all Irish movement,and my gunners have done a lot of damage to them,however a good volley sent my artillerymen fleeing into the farmhouse for a move,which relieved the pressure on Brian,allowing him to move some cavalry and infantry across the bridge-in the background you can see the ferocious fire-fight going on between Paul and Dave.
The fight for Windmill Ridge!!-I have captured the guns,and am involved in a melee,on my right,however Brian is about to "pile" more units into the fight,and drive me back!!
This is a good shot of the whole table,showing most of the action-Dave's cavalry were in danger of dying through boredom,and his gun hasn't fired a shot yet,and why isn't he saluting????
Cavalry action at last-hurrah!!,plus a lucky shot from Dave's gun not only "toppled" a couple of points off Paul's rear squadron,but also killed the officer-pure skill of course!!-on the left of the picture ugly gaps are appearing in our lines-oh dear!!
I just had to include this shot-Dave's cavalry riding down a whole regiment of Bavarians,despite being shot at-hurrah,hurrah!!!
Regiments are starting to "retire" and it looks as though we aren't going to achieve our objective-is this another win for Brian and Paul??
Yes,all is lost,Brian has managed to get his infantry out of square,and with the ridge lost,we had no other option but call for a draw!!-this was,of course, rejected and Paul and Brian were declared the winners.-well played to all.
May I take this opportunity to wish all of our readers and followers,a very merry Christmas and a great New Year,and hope that 2015 is a peaceful one for the whole world-wouldn't it be good if the only wars that are fought were Wargames?
Because Brian was feeling a bit under the weather last night,it was up to Paul and I to have a tremendous game of Romans vs Dacians.
Paul picked the Roman command and I was in command of the Dacians-we both had objectives to achieve-Paul's was to prevent my out-flanking force from attacking the right flank of his main line,and to cross the stream in force and attack the tower-my objective was to attack his main line,and prevent him from crossing the stream-simples!!
The formidable line of cohorts awaiting the order to advance-Paul had decided to attack immediately in a sort of wedge formation,against the left of my line,whilst his cavalry took on my Sarmatian cavalry,and his auxiliaries were to advance and take the pass-he advanced very cautiously towards the pass because I had "hinted" that maybe,just maybe, the Marcomani allies of the Dacians,were lurking in ambush!!-of course they weren't,but Paul wasn't to know that!!
The equally formidable Dacian line!-they had orders not to cross the stream,except the cavalry.
I sent my back line in support of the out-flanking troops,hoping to swing around the Roman flank,and completely destroy them-oh yeah?
The Romans begin their advance,whilst the cavalry clash on the far flank-because my cavalry were heavier than Paul's,I gained the advantage,and drove one unit of his back-hurrah!!
The fight for the pass begins,I had a unit of "fanatics" who were so wound up and whose fighting points were so high,that all they had to do was to shout "BOO!!" at the Romans,and they would run away-well,that was the theory!!-yes you've guessed,it didn't quite work out that way-in fact the "fanatics" bounced,and created a bit of a problem!!!
This shows the on-going cavalry battle on my right-Paul threw all of his three cavalry units into the fray,but I held one of mine back-just in case-what a good decision that turned out to be-I was hurled back across the stream,and Paul followed up remorselessly-things were not looking good-but what of the infantry battle?
What a struggle!! with javelins and pila expended,it was down to Falx and Gladius-in the background you can see that my outflanking force is in position,and Paul has been forced to turn a couple of cohorts to face the threat- great stuff!!
My out-flanking troops are now in position,but on the narrow frontage I would be fighting 1:1-not a good thing against the Roman cohorts!-In the centre things are going from bad to worse and my Warbands are being forced back,my cavalry are all but destroyed-is this the end??
A resounding "YES" is the answer to that question!!The Romans are all over me like a rash,Paul even had the audacity to turn cohorts around to support his troops fighting my out-flankers!!
I still hold the pass-one bit of success makes it all worth while you know!!-well done to Paul,this was a great game-roll on Sunday!!
Last night's game was slightly different from our usual Scenario-led games,in that I set specific objectives for the left,right and centre of the opposing armies.
This is what the "boys" were given before the game started-Paul was in command of the whole French army,Brian was in charge of the left flank British cavalry,and I commanded the right flank,and centre British infantry.
My attack on the redoubt begins,I was always going to be shot at on my left flank,but I decided I would attack in the manner of the period anyway.My gunners had orders to suppress the enemy guns,however they didn't actually hit any targets during the whole game!!
Both Brian and Paul had decided that they wanted a result quickly on this flank,so both ordered their cavalry to advance,then charge when in range!!-what a clash this was-the melees went on for the whole game,with advantage going first one way then the other-thrilling,good old-fashioned type wargaming at its best.
The battle for the farm begins I feinted up the road with my Grenadiers,but Paul was not "hoodwinked" by this,and moved a regiment out of the field just to block,in case!!-The fire-fight against the defenders was pretty one-sided,and I managed to drive away the farm defenders,but Paul put another regiment into the farm,forcing me to attack and melee with them.
It's now getting serious at the redoubt,one of my regiments is caught in a cross fire from the flank and the defenders,and is suffering badly,but my other front line regiment is getting closer,meanwhile my gunners are just wasting ammunition!!
The cavalry battle continues and Brian is gaining the upper hand-hurrah!!
I was getting a right old "hammering" against the redoubt defenders,and didn't seem to making any headway at all,then,in a moment of madness,I decided to bolster my attack by putting the Brigadier into the fray(I would like to blame Brian for this,but I can't-clutching at straws I could blame my age and mental incapacity,or even appeal to the United Nations Council for Stupid Acts!!-but I can't!!)-Paul.of course threw the requisite dice to "kill" the Brigadier,and every unit under his command had to take a morale check-and guess what?-Yes most of them took to their heels and ran away-how we laughed-not!!
There they go-Hussain Bolt couldn't catch this lot!!
So,even though Brian had fantastically won his flank,and I was making a little headway in the centre(but not enough,as I couldn't shift the farm defenders!) Paul was declared the winner.We counted the number of Officers killed at the end of the game,Paul had three killed,Brian had three killed and I had five killed-proving,as far as I am concerned,that I did all the fighting!!-hurrah!
Seriously though,this was a good game,very exciting,and played in the right style-well done lads,and roll on Thursday,probably an "El Cid" game.
By our normal standards,last night's game against Paul was a small affair,with only 12 units per side,but that did not detract from the usual exciting and at times tense,game.
Paul was the Carthaginian commander,I was the Roman Senator,defending his Villa........
The simple scenario,with terrain not unlike this morning's game!!
This shows the general set up,Paul really had an uphill task,he was not only facing the "dreaded" pila,but he would be fighting good troops behind walls and hedges-how would he cope?
Paul chose to attack my left flank,mainly because it was open as far as hedges and walls were concerned-his Celts,supported by Numidian cavalry and Spanish cavalry are putting in a determined assault-where are those Elephants going?
Oh Dear Me!!!!this unit of Hasati were severely mauled by this Elephant unit and forced to take refuge in the Villa-this opened up both of my flanks,but would they turn left or right??
This shot is just before the Elephants struck,but shows the fighting along the line,with the real heavy attack going in on my right flank-I had to send in my cavalry to support the hard pressed infantry,but Paul,after defeating the troops in front of the Villa,sent his Elephants to my left,thus thwarting my cavalry!!!-the swine!!!!!
A mass attack,including Elephants,cavalry and infantry,has opened up an ugly hole on my flank-this could be the end for the Romans.However on my right flank,I am doing ok,as long as Paul doesn't send his victorious troops behind the Villa to attack me there,I will be ok-no chance of course,Paul is too good a General to ignore that!!
Having to turn my right flank defenders to meet the advancing Carthaginians,Paul is all over me like a "Bigg Market Rash!!" all is lost,and Paul is the winner of this great little game-well done.
Whilst I actually lost count of the number of moves we got through,Paul reckoned it was about 18!!
Roll on Sunday,Brian will be back with us having survived a Hospital visit.
