Seasonal Solo-the game.

Over the last two nights I have played a fascinating game,which I have called the Battle of Red River.

 On the Reb's right flank,things started very badly-the Brigadier was killed and two out of the three regiments in the brigade decided that enough was enough,and promptly fled!!! On the left flank artillery from both sides opened a deadly barrage-the Rebs getting the worst of it(see red pom-poms!)

These two shots show the intense fire-fights,as the grand Union attack goes in-the situation looked hopeless,especially as I had determined that no reinforcements would come to the aid of the Rebs!!

This shows the out-flanking move about to be put into operation-this was so nearly successful,but bad dice throwing scuppered it!!!-still a brilliant(?) move by Lee(ie me!)

Top photo shows the "holding Division" doing its job,but getting shot to bits! bottom photo shows the Reb line being bolstered by a brigade,hoping to stop the eventual Union push against the right flank.

The far left brigade of the Confederates has fallen back-too many casualties,but the out-flanking move is "upsetting" the Union troops!! Despite this,the weight of numbers is telling,and all looks lost for Lee.

Meade has ordered his reserve brigade to "dash" down the road,towards the central bridge,thus cutting the Reb army in two,sealing the fate of Lee,and heralding the end of this cracking game!

One final shot of the victorious Union troops,consolidating their position and readying themselves for an advance on Lee's centre and right.By any stretch of wargaming imagination,this was an absolute delight of a game-more to follow!!

Seasonal Solo.

I find that the Christmas period is a good time to catch up on odd jobs,such as re-basing and experimenting with rules etc.etc. but I have gone a step further this year,and have started a solo game using my "Epic" figures(ACW) The first game will be this week,but I have commenced a Campaign Diary,and will publish bits and pieces from it as I go along with the game/campaign.

 Top photo is the scenario,bottom is the "reb's" position at the start of the game.

This is how the table looks at the start of the game,and the next shots are of the orders for each army,which will be followed to the letter,until a change is needed,by written communication.

Confederate reinforcements will come onto the table by throw of dice to indicate the move number(but not before move three!)

A view from the Confederate side of the table.

I intend to take my time over this game,and will,hopefully, incorporate it into a campaign.

Never say never

 I did say that my collection for the Kikuyu Revolt 1902 was complete. However I had a niggling doubt that 5 groups of Kikuyu warriors, even in defence, would be able to stand against the King’s African Rifles, police and Masai auxiliaries I have to range against them…

I was indeed premature saying it was complete! Up on eBay popped a lot described as ‘Unbranded Ancients Arab African Naked Fanatic Spearmen’. I could see straight off that they were figures from the Stratagem Miniatures range for this little conflict. Not sure whether they’re intended as Masai or Kikuyu, but they will find themselves bolstering the latter force. 

With a little gentle persuasion, the seller threw in 3 bonus Stratagem KAR figures! As John would testify ‘Shy bairns get nowt!’ Lol!

There were 3 different warrior poses in the eBay lot, all different from the ones I already own. Most sport a sort of Mohican hairstyle.

With 8 archers added from the Foundry sale, I have 2 more groups of Kikuyu warriors and an extra ‘big man’ leader (I’m using Sharp Practice rules). The figures were painted as before; undercoated Desert Yellow and washed with diluted Contrast Cygor Brown taking the figures to 80% complete. Quick and simple. And once again the shields are based on original Kikuyu designs.

I also found 2 more packs of Foundry African cattle grazing on Lead Pile Mountain. Gives me 8 more ‘booty’ beasts for the Imperial forces to seize in the game. I gave them a simple paint job, mostly using washes.

Nice to have a couple of ‘big men’ bases for the KAR using these lovely vintage Stratagem Miniatures. All the Stratagem Miniatures for this range were sculpted by Peter Morbey of Elite Miniatures. 

A nice addition to an already completed(?!) collection!

I’ve proposed to the nice people organising Vapnartak 2022 that I put this on as a demo game. Fingers crossed. Whenever I do get to show off this wee collection it will be dedicated to Duncan Macfarlane. Without his love of the unusual and his boundless enthusiasm, many of my fringe(?) collections wouldn’t exist - Irish rebellion 1798 being my take on Napoleonics, Adowa campaign being my take on colonial…

Now I have recently found that I can’t comment on blog posts. So enjoy reading! If I don’t see comments I expect it’s cos other folk are experiencing the same issue.

All the best for 2022!

Chris :-)

The Game That Was-Festive Cheer!.

Last night,Myself,Graham,Brian,Paul and Malcom(our new recruit) had a thrilling Ancients game,pitting Romans against Barbarians.

 Top photo shows the scenario,bottom shows the table layout.Paul and Graham were the Roman commanders,Malcom was the Fort commander,whilst Brian and I were the Barbarian commanders.

It was action all the way,from move number one-Brian and I turned our warbands to face the Legions,and Malcom retired(it's good being retired!) his troops into the Fort-but not before I managed to catch one cohort in the rear,and a mighty melee ensued-cracking stuff!

My warbands hurtled towards their little lead destinies,and Brian's did the same(background)-as Paul moved his Legion into the famous "chequer board formation" giving mutual support and flexibility to his cohorts.

Before Graham's legion contacted Brian's warbands,a cavalry battle developed in the centre-this would prove crucial to whoever won,as it would split the legions if the Barbarians won,and split the Barbarians if the Romans won-wonderful wargaming!

Graham's legion and Brians warbands edge warily towards each other in this shot-they would eventually have to clash,but not before Brian sustained a "paper cut" from one of his bases,from which followed such a show of hysteria that sank us all into fits of laughter-pull yourself together man!!!!

This shows the inevitable mass brawl-absolutely marvellous stuff-the Romans suffered in the initial melees,but eventually came through to push my warbands back,and those of Brian's that he wished to get involved,suffered the same fate!-meanwhile,Malcom was beating his opposition(two warbands) left to keep him occupied,and pushed into my rear(steady!!) with his cavalry-well done mate!

Top photo shows that Brian's warbands(well some of them!) decided to get involved at last,and bottom shows Malcom looking rather smug(as well he should!) having beaten both Brian and I outside the Fort-nice tie Brian!(HO,HO,HO.)

Top shows the "Victors" bottom shows Brian asking for a draw-refused of course!

This was an excellent last- of- the -year game,full of the usual rude banter,bad language and lots and lots of laughs-long may it continue.We would like to wish all of you out there,a very merry Christmas and a happy and Corvid free new year-roll on 2022.

The Game That Wasn't!

Due to an unfortunate set of circumstances,Brian and Dave couldn't make it on Sunday,so we had to cancel the planned game until next Sunday-probably Dave still won't be able to come along,but our new recruit(?) Malcom,might come along and actually have a game! 

Preview of next Sunday's game!

Inspired by Sunday's game,I cleared the figures away in super fast time,and set about planning next week's game!!-An Ancients, Rome vs Barbarians game has been set out,and with just a little bit of "tweeking" we will be ready to go,with,hopefully, a full house again.

 This shows the scenario and table layout-it looks and feels right!!

The Barbarians(thousands of 'em!) and the relieving(?) Legions(two of 'em!)

Outside the Fort-don't you just pity them? and inside the Fort-sneaky cavalry!!

I'm really looking forward to this one.

7YW extravaganza!

Last night we had 100% (plus one!) turnout for this "cracking" 7YW game ,pitting Paul's Austrian Army against my Prussian Army.-The plus one was the arrival of a gamer who approached us at Stockton and asked if he could come along and watch our method of play etc.

These two shots show the Austrian "team" discussing tactics before the game started-Paul,Brian and Dave were the Austrians,whilst Graham and I were the Prussians-the objective of the game was for the Austrians to capture the town.

On our far right flank,Graham has lined the hill with infantry and a gun battery-these inflicted horrendous casualties on Brian's troops trying to cross the river(at half speed!)-the bottom photo shows the masses of cavalry on our left flank,moving into contact-stirring stuff!

Top shows Dave about to unleash his Infantry against the Town,bottom shows my response-they will not enter(??)-this fire-fight went on for 4 moves,until weight of numbers(and rotten dice throws!) began to take its toll and I was forced to retire(it's good being retired!) my first line.

The cavalry battle is in full swing-neither side gaining a real advantage,however I was outnumbered,and I had a funny feeling that Paul would eventually start throwing his "demon dice"-I wasn't wrong!!!!!-this was thrilling stuff,and totally enjoyable.

This shows Dave's "Grand Attack" on Graham's flank and the Town-could we survive? Brian was also pushing forward across the river,when our reinforcements arrived in the form of a Hanoverian brigade-can they save the day?-too many questions,and not enough answers!!- in the background you can see the cavalry still battling it out-absolutely "cracking".

Despite a valiant effort from Graham's Hanoverians,he was beaten,both frontally and on the flank(losing an Officer-note new "officer killed" token!)-The town troops were being pushed back-although we did have replacement troops ready to take their place! and the Cavalry was about to retire(aw shaddap!!) so  we called it a night-theoretically Graham and I won the game,because the objective hadn't been achieved-but the Austrian "team" would have whinged if we persisted in our claim,so we decided on a very close draw!!!

This was a great game,and it was good to have us all back together,playing a club game-roll on next week.