Last night we had the most amazing game of tactical blunders,and it was FANTASTIC!!!
Top photo is scenario,bottom photo is the table before any movement.
Paul was in charge of the square,I was in charge of the Naval Brigade,Graham was in charge of the "native troops" and Brian and Dave were in charge of the Egyptians.A plan was decided on by both sides,orders written,and then the tactical blunders commenced!!!!!
Because I had written the scenario,and knew where the Native troops were(outside the fort) as well as three units of Egyptians(hidden in the terrain to the right of the square,I couldn't advise Paul as to what direction his square should be taking!-he decided to advance towards the terrain where there were quite a few Native cavalry as well as the Egyptians-oh dear!!
Paul's Bengal cavalry have been attacked by Graham's native horse,and he is sending his other cavalry on an out-flanking move-oh double dear!!!
Whilst the cavalry melee was developing,Paul decided to break his square,form line and attack the terrain(whose Egyptian occupiers hadn't shown themselves yet)
Now it was my turn to blunder!-just because I drink a lot of rum doesn't mean I'm a sailor,consequently I got my Port and Starboard mixed up,and ordered two units of the Naval Brigade to land on the wrong side of the Nile-putting them out of the game effectively!!!!-oh bugger!!!!
Boo!! Brian's hidden troops now commenced firing on the advancing British,and he gave them hell!!-however,it was later revealed that the plan was for them to give a volley,and then retire(it's good being retired!) back to the town-he obviously lost his head in the heat of battle,forgot about retiring(it's......) and started a fire-fight against the cream of the British army!!-he wouldn't stand a chance,would he????-oh yes he would,and did!! giving the British a good old fashioned "bashing!"-things are not going according to plan!
Part of my remit was that,if I could get up a good head of steam,I could "ram" the bridge over the Nile-this I did!-I was expecting Graham to have moved his Fort troops out of the fort by now,but true to this tactical blunder game,he didn't-the bridge was destroyed(along with the Steamer) and all of his troops were now couped up inside the fort and out of the game!!!!-what else could go wrong????
Lots of "natives" inside the fort-oh dear,how sad,never mind!!
These two photo's show Paul's attempt at retrieving the situation,by marching and counter-marching his remaining British into a formation ready to advance on the town and Dave's position outside of the town...............................HOWEVER.......................
Dave,against orders,and amidst some terrible language from Brian,left his defensive position,and advanced against the British,even though he was out-numbered,out-gunned and out cavalried(is there such a word?) -the result was never in doubt!!!
Brian,now red-faced and almost hysterical,had to also abandon his town position to support Dave's reckless move-this is all going "swimmingly well"
A general(god knows we need a one!) view of the table-the terrain where the hidden troops were has now been "vacated",and the British lines are moving forward to take on Dave's Heroes.
Surely this was the biggest blunder of the game-Dave put his meagre unit of Egyptian lancers against the Dragoon Guards -result in doubt????-YES,he bloody well won the ensuing melee!!
However Paul was giving the infantry a good old hiding,and with me supplying my remaining unit of the Naval Brigade into the line,the Egyptians were in real bother.
In this shot,Paul is moving his lancers onto Dave's flank,and all is lost for the Egyptians!
Brian took the defeat like a gentleman,and blamed Dave and Graham!!
This was an hilarious game,full of rude banter,and good gamesmanship-well done to us all.
Roll on next week,our mate Chris is bringing his Ethiopians and Italians up for another Colonial bash.
I have planned a colonial game around Brian's newly painted Egyptians and Naval Brigade,so thought I would give a game preview,just to get us in the mood.
Top photo is the scenario,bottom is the table as the "boys" will see it when they arrive on Sunday night-I will pick sides before they arrive!!
The British square-consisting of Infantry,cavalry and guns,with Bengal cavalry on the outside!
The "scratch-built" gun boat-I know,I know,you would swear blind it was a bought model!!
It had to be called "Venus" didn't it??-this will be pulling three nuggars(flat bottomed boats) containing the Naval Brigade.
Two photo's of the "Venus" reception committee!!
The Egyptian-held town of Tel-El Kabish.
Well placed Egyptians outside the town.
Hmmm, an interesting piece of terrain-surely there won't be any hidden troops there!!
Roll on next Sunday!
Nothing to do with wargaming,but I took this photo on Monday night.....................
Two questions need to be answered,Why is the Moon red? and how did I get it to balance on the telephone wire??
Last night Dave hosted a very well thought out and interesting game,that went right down to the wire!!
A Prusso/Russian army,was marching to Paris,and the French,under Napoleon himself, had to cut the road they were marching on,to win the game-simple but intriguing-marvellous stuff!
Two views of the table,Brian and Paul commanded the Prussians and Russians respectively,whilst Dave and I took command of the French-all was set for a cracking game.
In this shot,Paul has instigated a cavalry melee,against my elite Mamalukes and Guard Chasseurs-the man's a fool!!!-however it must be said,he did quite well against my elites(in other words he gave them a right old "hiding!")-but dice throwing can change a lot in a game,and later on I managed to give him a right old "hiding"-wonderful wargaming!!
On the other flank,Paul and Brian were too busy holding hands to get themselves sorted out!!
Meanwhile Dave launched a tremendous attack against Brian's Prussians-things are looking good(but we all know what can happen in a game!!)
This is the on-going cavalry melee,on my flank.I am moving my infantry forward to take control of the field to ,my front-Paul is doing the same though-this will be tight!
Brian and Dave have moved to within musket range,and a tremendous exchange of fire took place-however Dave was getting the worst of it,and to save an"adverse morale situation" he put his Brigadier into the front line-and guess what??-yes,he got him killed,resulting in the whole brigade taking a morale test,resulting in the whole lot quitting the board,and heading back to Paris!!!!!-send in the Guard,Dave!!
Hurrah,a lovely sight,with drums beating and colours flying the Guard step forward-only to be met with more tremendous dice throwing from Brian!!-who also sent them "packing"-oh dear,how sad,never mind!!-I suppose I will have to win the game by myself!!!!!
Taking heart from Brian's success,Paul renewed the attack on the field with vigour,only to be repulsed(but not until after he had given me an anxious time of it!!)-now, if I can only get rid of his cavalry............................
A volley from my Swiss square saw to that!!-however Paul still had some spare cavalry available,so he decided to send them down the middle and attack Dave's gun position-does the man not know when he is beat!!!!????
Undaunted,Dave also put in an attack against Brian's gun position,was met with cavalry,and slaughtered-the same as Paul's cavalry attack-I'm getting worn out just remembering all the action!!!
Dave had to admit defeat on his flank(well,you've got to when you've no troops left!!) but my infantry were holding the field and were within a whisker of cutting the road,so the French were declared the winners-hurrah!!
This was a great game,well done Dave(and the rest of us)-roll on next week,a Sudanese type game,featuring Brian's newly painted Egyptians and Naval Brigade.
We had a full turnout for the game last night,which turned out to be "EPIC!"
Before the game started we had a very welcome visitor.................................
Charlie Wesencraft-as sharp and witty as ever,he had called to invite us to his club's annual game at Seaton Sluice on the 27th,but I don't think we can make it,due to holidays etc.
This is the scenario,in my haste to get the game ready in time I had forgotten to write little bits of instructions and information to everyone,which had a bit of impact on what Graham did with his "foreign" troops,but overall things went okay!
Paul and Graham were in charge of the French and "foreigners",whilst Dave,Brian and myself were in charge of the Allies.
These two photo's show the initial manoeuverings-Brian had been instructed not to move until move number three,or until my second line Dutch infantry were in a position to support his advance.
Top photo shows the "orderly" advance of the Scots (which should have been a wild charge,if I had time to issue info/instructions!) bottom photo shows the "reception committee".
As my second line Dutch form up,a cavalry battle has been instigated between Brian and Paul.
Has Brian moved too soon??
The centre is now ablaze with action,and,for a while, I was driving the French back,but now my error of not giving instructions to the Scots,let Graham use some of his Clans to attack the central infantry and gun position!!!!!-we were in trouble!
Brian's cavalry are being beaten in sectors,but my infantry are making a bit of an impact,but just how long we can hold on, I just don't know!
There,there Brian,have a cup of cocoa and put your feet up!!!!
Back to the game...........................
A most audacious move by Paul,saw his cavalry pour across the bridge to split our army in two!
Brian,who hadn't fire his gun up until now,cannistered one unit of cavalry and stopped them in their tracks-hurrah!! but we were now in serious trouble.
After a period of relative inactivity,all hell breaks loose in the town!!-Dave managed to stop the initial Scots attack with volley fire and fine use of the bayonet-another hurrah!! but the Irish were steadily progressing through the Town-all seems lost.
These last two photo's show Brian's cavalry being beaten,and Paul's cavalry causing all kinds of mayhem for my central troops!!-however we still had a tenuous hold of the town-we called for a draw,but the "Frenchies" cried foul!! and we had to accept defeat.
This was an interesting game,and the result could have gone either way,never mind,there's always next week,when we will be down at Dave's house-possibly a Napoleonic(??)
Roll on next week!
