Dacian War .Dacians vs Romans

Last week we did" Napoleonics" to death,so last night Paul and I got back to "grass roots" with a Cracking Ancients game.

As usual,the top photo is the scenario,and the bottom photo shows the table before any movement.Paul was the Roman commander and I took charge of the combined Dacian and Auxiliary Romans(attacking the fort)

The top photo shows my initial advance up the hill-my battle plan,like Paul's was simple-attack,and wipe out the opposition!-The bottom photo shows Paul's swift and brutal reply to my advance!!-oh hell!!

Whilst the battle in the middle was taking place,the siege was under way-Paul managed to set fire to one of my "Towers",making the attacking troops having to use ladders! The battle for the Fort went on for most of the game,Paul's troops doing a stirling job of keeping me out for a long time,and I only got in through weight of numbers in the finish.

My central and left flank warbands have clashed with the Roman cohorts!-Attacking uphill,and in the face of the dreaded pila(not to mention Paul's "devilish" dice!!) I was always going to be hard pushed,but my Dacians were given  good fighting points,and for a while they held their own against a most determined  assault by the Romans-hurrah!!

We're in!!-My auxiliaries have carried the right hand portion of the fort-but the defenders still fought on and wouldn't be thrown out!!

Time to send in my "super-duper" extra heavy,elite Sarmatian cavalry-hurrah!!-but of course,Lucifer, in disguise as a mere mortal(Paul) had other ideas,and with his usual high scoring dice throws,managed to check two of my three attacks!!!

Meanwhile,back in the centre and left,a combined attack with my light cavalry and warbands looks as though it is working,and the Roman cohorts are looking for help from the Praetorian guard(which means that the Emperor must go in with them-this could be a great opportunity to "kill" him and win the game-Hurrah,hurrah!!!!

Oh no,the cohorts have turned the melee around and I am now being pushed back along the whole front-time to throw in my Elite troops(and my Commander,Decebalus)-he'll bring stability to the line and save the day(?)

The Praetorian Guard,plus the Roman Emperor,have joined in the fray!
Now is the time for me to throw in my elites,plus King!!-I will put in an attack against their flank,and win the game-hurrah!!

There they go,what a winning move-but not for me!!-Lucifer,er sorry,I mean Paul,threw the requisite dice and killed Decebalus(ie me!!!)-game over,to roars of laughter!!(guess from who?)

Yet another great game-roll on Thursday,probably a game based in the Sudan/Egypt around 1898.

I seem to have made a mistake in the scenario,and have named the Dacian King as Fundabalus(which is of course an ancient stone throwing weapon!!)-I'll put that down to age!

Battle of Gilly 15th June 1815

A big thankyou to Dave for putting on last night's game,it was brilliant! All of the figures used were his(which we don't see often enough!) there was colour,excitement and tension throughout the whole game.

Dave gave me the map for the terrain,and I set the table up as near as possible to it-the bottom photo is the table just before the first move-I was Blucher,and Paul was the "little fella"(Napoleon)-I have two hidden regiments,one in the central wood and one on my right flank wood!

Paul's first attack against the Prussian position begins,with colours flying and drums beating and shouts of "Vive L'Empreur" his battalions swept forward-but the acute observer will have noticed that my light cavalry are also sweeping towards the French lines-hurrah!!!!

As more and more French pour onto the field,my cavalry have done their job,but I am being assailed in the rear,by Dragoons and Cuirassiers-woe is me!-I have exposed my hidden Infantry in the central wood,and gave a volley in the flank of the passing cavalry-they did not like it!!!

My reserves are now entering the fray,as my cavalry try and regroup,however Paul is also getting reserves-Help!!(Dave looks happy!)

A mass cavalry "brawl" is taking place now-clearing the way for yet another French attack-Paul's gunners must have been smoking "happy baccy" 'cos they were causing tremendous casualties on the Prussian infantry and guns,forcing me back at one point-I need my reserves to get into position quickly,or all is lost!(Dave is till looking happy!!)

The cavalry battle in the centre is still on-going,but there aren't as many as there was a while ago(the older persons reading this blog will recognise that sentence from a line in a Lonny Donnegan(who?) song.)
Paul's French are on the move again,but my reserves are in place,and this will be "nippy-tucky"

Look at this for a game!My left is now secure,and my Dragoons are dominating the hill top(for the time being!)-but just look at the number of French troops coming over the stream-"formidable!"

Having beaten off Paul's Cuirassiers,my Dragoons are being subjected to volley fire from the squares-this was to prove a bit too much for them,and they retired(ran away!)
Paul's attacks in the centre intensified,and I really didn't have too much to stem the flow of French troops-or did I? I sent my ADC to a regiment of Hussars to change their initial orders,and told them to sweep around the left flank of the attacking troops,I combined this with a counter attack with some infantry,the result was that the attack was stalled-hurrah!!!

Close quarter volley fire was the order of the day!-this was the French regiment that was caught in the flank by my counter attack,and proved crucial!

Hell's Flames,what a game!!-everything is going on at once,but mainly Paul's last attack is being stopped-he must have thought that he had made the winning move when he swept around my right flank with a fresh regiment-but my other hidden regiment emerged on his flank,and with cries of dismay,they were forced to flee.
By now the French were in a bit of dis-array,and I still held my original positions,although most of my troops were in square,so I was declared the winner(I actually thought a draw would have been the proper result!)

One final photo of this great game-more Dave!!!
Thanks to Dave for putting on such a good game,and thanks to Paul for being such a good opponent-I will now have to go and lie down in a darkened room to recover.
We won't be playing on Thursday,I will have a house full of guests,as my son is getting married on Friday,but roll on Sunday.

Napoleon-End of the road?

Last night Paul and I had yet another great game,using the same terrain as the morning game,but with the troops in slightly different positions at the start,the objective,however was the same-capture Napoleon and defeat his army!

The table before any moves-the Prussians are on the right of the picture,facing the ruins.
Paul was Allied commander,and opted to attack with his Prussians,whilst advancing slowly with the British-this was great for me,allowing me time to get a lot of the "relief" troops moving along the ridge,and towards the stream.

Paul is pushing his Prussian cavalry forward at an alarming rate!-I managed to get a regiment of the Guards to fire on his flank as he passed my position,and moved my Cuirassiers over the stream to stem the flow.

"GOTCHA!"-this volley was crucial,especially as I also toppled the cavalry Colonel off his horse too-hurrah!!
My relief infantry are making good progress towards the stream,but some have been forced into square,because of Paul's cavalry action on the far flank.

The cavalry battle lasted 5 moves,and swung both ways,first I would push Paul back,then he would push me back-great stuff!
A mention must be made at this point,of the "laser-guided" rocket troop that Paul commanded!In the morning game it blew up on takeoff,with my first throw of the dice!!but Paul hit a regiment of guard infantry,behind a wall,twice-and almost wiped them out-if Ney hadn't been there to stop them running away,things might have been over there and then!!

In this photo,the cavalry battle is ongoing in the foreground,and in the background you can see Paul's magnificent assault on the Guard's position.

The top photo shows the far flank cavalry battle,which I am now losing!!-the bottom photo shows the right flank cavalry battle,which I am now losing!!!!-woe is me.

This shows the action around the ruin position-the Prussian guard forced their way into the position at one point,but I regained it by reinforcing the melee-this was tremendous wargaming,however my regiments were suffering badly,and the Prussian numbers kept on increasing-double woe is me!!

Paul's victorious cavalry are making their way towards the stream,and my isolated squares-all is lost I think!!

"Oui,nous somme perdu!"-that's French for "Aye,we're knackered!"
A combination of cannister and volley fire is destroying the last of the Guard(sounds familiar!) so we called it a night and the Allies were declared the winners-well done to Paul.
Roll on Sunday,Dave is organising another Napoleonic game-Prussians vs French at the battle of Gilly 15th June 1815-we will also be using the game as our annual memorial to our good friend Tommy McClelland who died in 2013-gone but not forgotten.

Le Cul De Sac 18th June 1815.

Well,I couldn't let "Waterloo Day" go by without joining in the celebrations,as no doubt nearly every wargames club in the world is also doing!!
This game was played this morning against our old mate Alan,and it was,as it turned out,a close run thing!!!

As a preliminary to the game,I thought I might share with you these two items-the first is an actual musket ball from the battlefield at Ligny! and the second is a souveneir from "Les Invalides" in Paris-both bought by Daughter.

Scenario and Table before any movement-I was Wellington,and Alan was Napoleon.

My attacks begin,I wanted to pin the French immediately,so attacked along the whole table.

Whilst my British troops attacked the Guard-held ruin,my Prussians are about to cross the stream-hurrah!!

The Prussian cavalry have attacked the French cavalry,and a "ding,dong" battle took place,which eventually went my way,but before Alan had beaten me a couple of times,but the main outcome of the cavalry melees was that the French infantry were forced into square,and were immobile.-another hurrah!!

I now went completely mad,and ordered the 23rd Fusiliers to charge the guards in the ruin!!-the result was that they were shot down before making any contact,and had to retire-fool!!!!

My 23rd are retiring back over the stream,but I have managed to get two regiments of Guard to retire too-hurrah again,things are looking good for the Allies.

Having weakened a French square with shots from my horse artillery,I charged my Scot's Greys at them-they broke,and the Greys destroyed them-too many hurrahs now!!!

With the French Guard retiring,and the troops in the centre forced into squares,and most of the French cavalry beaten,I was declared the winner of this fairly small but exciting game.
Well done to Alan,hope to see you again soon.
We will be playing a very similar scenario tonight!

Painting update

Dave's Project

Dave brought these beautiful Perry figures to show his skills and inspire us to join in what will be a new 28mm period

The painting needs no description... 

                                                                                       well maybe "passable"

ENJOY

Fantastic work Dave