Last night we had another 100% turnout for what turned into an epic game/battle,using my Prussians against Paul's Austrians.
This is the terrain map-I didn't have a scenario,as such,only that the hills were half movement,the trees were decorative,and the river could only be crossed via the bridges-the objective for both sides was to capture the enemy's bridge!!
This is the table before any movement-Paul and Graham were the Austrians,and Dave and Brian were the Prussians.
Look at this for a study in organisation,co-ordination and planning!-you would almost swear that they knew what they were doing!!!!
The Prussians extra movement "bonus" caused a bit of an alarm to the Austrians,as a fire-fight ensued in the centre and Dave moved his horse battery,from his left flank into the centre!-marvellous stuff!(and look,the bases fit into the bridges!)
Paul's advance,into a storm of shit,shot and shell,was magnificent to see-wargaming at its best,I think!-but would it prove a bit too "avant garde"-we will see.
Dave has met Paul's advance,and is moving his cuirassiers up in support of his infantry.
In the centre,a lapse of concentration by Brian, has allowed Graham to attack his forward regiment in the flank,destroying it completely!! However his other regiments are giving the Austrians hell!!
By way of revenge,Brian has unleashed his heavy cavalry and is driving Graham's back.
The fire-fight is on-going,but the Prussians are winning it-this looks bad for the Austrian bridge!!!
All of a sudden,the ground in front of Brian's infantry is void of Austrian troops,and his reserve brigade is starting to advance-this looks like the end for the Austrians,however Paul is still battling away,and holding his own(I know,I know,they can't touch you for it!!)
Paul's flank is now suffering to the point that he is being enfiladed with artillery,and his cavalry and infantry are being beaten-time to capitulate???
YES!! and the Prussians are declared the winners!
This was a great and epic game,played in the right spirit-well done lads.
Roll on next Sunday,no clue as to what we will be playing yet.
Last night the "thrifty three" had a great Seven Years War game pitting Prussians against Russians.
Top photo is scenario,bottom is my dispositions(Russians)-I "disappeared" for 15 mins. leaving Paul and Graham to come up with a plan for their troops(Prussians)
Don't know where Graham has got to,but this shows Paul placing his centre and left.
My plan was simple-attack with my left,hold in the centre and right,theirs was to attack my left flank,mess me about in the centre and make a slow attack on my right,through the woods.
We're off!! my swift advance with my Cuirassiers threw Graham off balance,and stopped him in his tracks-which caused a "log jam" which prevented Paul from deploying his gun battery and Dragoons-oh dear,how sad,never mind!!-My cavalry advance was just a feint,and I soon got them back to their original positions,and started an advance with my infantry-hurrah!!
The table at about move number 4.Paul is moving cautiously through the woods,but I am about to unleash my Hussars!!
With orders to "harass and harangue" any thing that comes through the woods-they did a splendid job,taking casualties off Paul's Dragoons but receiving no casualties in return.Paul likened them to Carthaginian Numidian Cavalry-and so they were!!
Graham's attack is still in "limbo",and now I am moving my reserve Dragoons on to his left flank by the lake-by this time Paul was worried,mainly because I am aiming my attack against his battery!!!
Paul has cleared the woods,and I immediately attacked him with my Dragoons,and beat him,forcing him back to the woods!!-isn't wargaming wonderful????-I also attacked his horse artillery battery with my Hussars(skirmish) and forced them to retire-bloody marvelous!
I have a feeling that all is going too well(??!!)
Graham has finally got his act together,and is pouring volley after volley into my infantry and artillery-a desperate assault on my village failed miserably,and I was moving my cuirassiers around his right flank,again,causing him to "baulk"-I love wargaming,me!!
Yet another "lull" on my left flank,while Graham decides what to do!!-in the background you can see that I have wiped out Paul's lake-side battery,but am being attacked by his Dragoons.My other Cuirassiers are making their way through the central woods and onto Paul's infantry flank!!
Paul has now crossed the lake,and engaged me frontally,whilst his reserves are moving through the woods to out-flank me-weight of numbers are now telling-great tactics,great wargaming!!
(note the Curassiers about to charge his infantry!!)
My left flank exposed infantry and artillery are beaten,and Graham,at last ,is putting in a determined attack-on the other flank Paul has got his reserves into position on my right flank,so all is lost!!!-a great game,and well done to Paul and Graham.
We might have a full complement next week,but no idea,as yet,as to what we will be playing.
Last night we had another "foray" into the horse and musket period,in the form of a 7YW game provided by Paul.
Top photo is the map we were each given,and bottom is the scenario and terrain restrictions.
Dave was Austrian commander,aided and abetted by Brian,and I was Prussian commander aided and abetted by Graham.
The first 4 moves were taken up by each side manoeuvering into position,this shows my Prussians trying to deploy,whilst the Austrians are already in a good position on the ridge/hill.
The Austrian deployment!-I had already formulated a plan,which would depend on the Austrian position,but seeing them in equal numbers,and in a defensive position,my plan was scuppered!!!-Dave had decided not to attack(and why would he?) and if I attacked I would be "ploated" to say the least!!!
The impasse had to be ended,so I ordered Graham to attack with his cavalry against the flank held by Brian-this was successful,in the end,mainly due to some "diabolocal" dice throwing from Brian!!!-the language was choice!!! but my infantry was being chewed up by some fantastic gunnery from Dave.
The Prussians are still moving along the road!-The brigade in the foreground was poor quality,so I decided to try and lure Dave to attack them with his cavalry,by moving them forward,then catch him in a cross-fire from my guns,backed up with my reserve Cuirassiers-this failed!
The Prussians advance(slightly!) but the Austrians are clinging to their hill-the swines!
Apart from the cavalry battle on the far flank,inaction seems to be the word!!
Tumbleweed,tumbleweed,tumbleweed!!!
Action!!Graham has advanced and is giving the Austrians on their right flank a good old battering,and his cavalry are winning-hurrah!!-my infantry have advanced and a fire-fight is ongoing,however my "poor" brigade has decided that they would be better off back in Berlin!!! and have taken off!!
With Graham winning on his flank,but my centre and right in all kinds of trouble,we decided that the position was too strong to take,and called it a night.
I am trying to encourage the "lads" to come up with more scenarios(I'm running out of ideas!) and the more they put on the more experience they will get,and they will discover the joy(as Paul did) of putting on a good game.Well done for last night,and next week our mate Michael is coming down for the week-end,and he has requested that we put on a WW2 game!!-it will be Dave's turn to shine,using his figures,Paul's figures and Brian's figures-so roll on next Sunday.
Last night Dave,Graham,Brian and I had a tremendous game using my 40mm 7YW figures.(this was the last time I could call these wonderful figures my own,because Dave is now the proud owner!)
The top photo is the scenario,and bottom is the table before any movement-Dave was Austrian,I was French,Graham was British and Brian was Prussian.
After a 5 minute "conflab" both sides came up with a battle plan,and away we go!!!
From the very start of the game,the town was contested using light infantry,as the lancers and hussars get stuck in to each other-very colourful and exciting.
This shows the start of my out-flanking move against Graham's flank-this was to prove decisive,but not before Graham inflicted tremendous casualties on my French troops.
As Dave manoeuvres his infantry to protect my left flank,I am engaging Graham's British with my French-great wargaming!!
On the far left flank,Dave and Brian pitched their cavalry into a grand melee,which lasted the whole game-each side reinforcing when and where needed!
Brian had decided that he would stand his ground with his infantry,denying them the added movement and firing bonus,which played into Dave's hands,as he waited until the cavalry were all engaged then moved forward with his infantry,to deliver a devastating volley-hurrah!!
This photo shows Dave's troops moving majestically across the board,whilst Graham and I "slug" it out in the centre!-once again,it happens almost every game(!!!) a Colonel figure was put into the midst of a regiment to stop it retiring,and was killed,resulting in all the regiments in the brigade to take off at a rate of knots!!-this time the culprit was Graham!!!!!-his first line of British vanished,giving me time to replace my shattered troops with fresh ones from the second line-another hurrah!!
With my French outnumbering Graham's troops,and the Austrians now making a real impact against the Prussians,it was just a matter of time before the Anglo/Prussian alliance collapsed.
This shows the state of play at move number 10-our lines are looking good,the Anglo/Prussians not so good!!
This is move number 12,and the British flank has collapsed!!-even with the cavalry still fighting on,it was a lost cause for Brian and Graham,and they capitulated!!
Well done to us all,an engrossing game,full of highs and lows for each side.
The next time we see these figures will be on Dave's new table,soon to be finished,can't wait for that!
Why have I covered my mouth and nose?-am I about to rob a bank?-NO!
You'll have to read the next blog to find out-intrigued????
Last night Paul,Brian and I had a most memorable 7YW battle using the 40mm figures we are taking up to Falkirk in May 2017,and we also tested a couple of new rules we are introducing to get the flavour of this colourful and exciting period.
I commanded the Austrians,whilst Brian commanded the right of the Prussians,and Paul took control of the centre and left of the Prussians-the objective for both armies was to beat the enemy!! for this game we introduced light cavalry and light infantry to see how they would and did work,and as it turned out,they worked very well!
This shot shows my left flank of "Hungarians"-although there is no action going on,I thought I would include the photo because I think they look "nice"
After an initial,and quite ineffective, artillery bombardment,the Prussians and Austrian first lines have advanced and are firing volleys at each other,whilst on the far right flank...............
The Dragoons and Cuirassiers are getting ready to charge each other-this was spectacular to say the least!!!
On the other flank I have sent my Lancers and Hussars splashing across the river to contest the hill,thus driving away Brian's horse artillery and light infantry-hurrah!!-however Brian has also sent his light cavalry against me!!(it must be noted,at this point, that the horse artillery didn't fire one shot the whole game!!)
Whilst the light cavalry were "hacking and stabbing" at each other,I was giving the Prussian infantry a right old "drubbing",forcing one regiment to break-could I now use my advantage in numbers to win the flank?-it would all depend on the light cavalry melee.
The Austrian front line has been pulled back,as has the Prussian front line,and now the Bavarians and British are shooting each other to hell!!-however a worrying development has taken place-in the foreground you can see that Brian's Hussars are driving my Lancers and Hussars back,thus threatening my whole line!!!
My infantry are doing okay,but on the hill,Brian is giving my Hussars a hard time-all looks lost on this flank if he wins this vital melee.
On my right flank,I have won the opening melees,and now both sides are reforming,ready for the final push-this is going to be tight!!
This is what "tight" looks like!!-for a couple of rounds we were equal,then my morale broke,and that was the end-woe is me!
In this shot,you can see the whole table is ablaze with action,but my troops are suffering more than the Prussians-Brian has driven all of my light cavalry from the board,thus threatening to sweep my infantry way as well,so with both flanks broken,and the centre just about holding on,we decided that the victory must go to the Prussians!!
One final photo showing the table at the end of this "cracking" game-well done to Paul and Brian,and roll on next Sunday,probably a Roman vs Carthaginian,but who knows??
