I have been filling in my time,in between gardening,tidying and queuing for food(which,in my book,includes RUM!!) by having a few solo wargames- I have mentioned before that I enjoy these games but miss the club games and the social contact,daft banter,devious tactics and,dare I say it, the "boys".
I am posting a selection of photo's from the last two games I have had,with just a minimal text(the noun not the verb!!)
These three photo's show the Colonial scenario,the British left and right flanks-quite a formidable force,but so was the opposition!!
Oh dear,there's quite a few of them! and they're getting closer!!!
Surely artillery fire and volley fire would stop them! My plan for the British depended on my Lancers beating the Haddendowah Camel unit-they didn't,and my whole battle plan fell apart!!
It would now depend on British "pluck" and some lucky dice throws!!
Dragoon Guards are seen beating the Dervish Cavalry-this put the enemy left flank in real trouble,and saved the game for the British-hurrah!
On the British left flank,even the Egyptians got involved(after the Gatling jammed!!)
Eventually the Bija/Haddendowah troops had to retire(it's good being retired!) and a British victory was declared(but really too close for comfort!)
"Dead" figures litter the ground,showing the high tide of the Haddendowah advance-this was another thrilling but mentally exhausting game.
The next game,Crusaders vs Saracens,employed virtually the same terrain and scenario-well,I was mentally exhausted!!!
Scenario,Crusaders leaving the Castle and Saracens advancing to form up.
All formed up,horse archers and crossbowmen skirmishing-this might be bloody!!
Top photo shows the view that the crossbowmen had,bottom photo shows the view the Mameluke contingent had-they had two units-both lost their officers in the first round of melee!!
With an almost audible "crash!" both flanks of heavy cavalry charged into each other-this looked spectacular!
For three rounds of melee,neither side could claim an outright advantage-then the dreaded morale test kicked in,and in proper wargaming twists and turns,units on both sides decided they had had enough..................................
Both lines have become fragmented,with units fleeing the field,being chased and chaos reigns!
It was now that the Saracen horse archers could decide the day-if they could break through the crossbowmen,they could swing left and right and destroy the Crusaders-but could they do it??
YES!!! they could and did,winning the game for the Saracens.
Another good game,full of twists and turns,good and bad dice throws-exactly what a wargame should be(?)
I haven't thought what my next game will be(I just wish it could be a club game!)
Continuing on from my previous blog,the British have just received a message from their look-outs(deceased!) that Zulus are approaching the camp.
Company "D" is detailed to move to the river bank to try and slow up the Zulu Left Horn,whilst the rest of the companies retire(it's good being retired!) to their positions in the camp.
Top photo shows the classic chest and horns formation taking place,as the camp is manned by three companies of infantry,bottom photo shows Coy.D trying to slow down the Left horn advance(to no avail!)
The Zulu right horn is making an "un-scheduled",and un-supported advance against the left face of the camp-by some miracle dice throws,the advance was almost stopped in its tracks,however,one regiment managed to make contact!!!!
After a "bit of a tussle" they too were driven back,but the rest of the Zulu army are now within "spitting" distance,and the volley fire is not slowing them down-oh dear!
Having chased coy.D back into the camp,the left horn is attacking the right face of the camp,just as the Centre/chest arrives to add its weight to the attack-come on boys,"play up and play the game!"
Oh hell,things are looking black(no pun or racist remark intended!)-can they do it??
Well it certainly looks like it-well done boys,the Zulus are giving ground-you don't suppose they are just regrouping,and intend coming back in,do you??
YES!!-starting with the dreaded left horn,they attacked and swamped poor old company "D"(they had a boogey woogey bugle boy didn't they??) then the rest of the Zulus came on at a terrific rate of knots,giving the British no time to recover from the previous melees!!-once inside the camp all hell broke loose........................
All looks lost for the British-Zulus everywhere!
Camp taken,bridge destroyed,Victoria annoyed!!
Only one photo left to show now-the Lone Survivor................................
Don't worry,it only hurts when I laugh!!!!-yes this lock down is getting to me,I think!!!!
Last night we had a full turnout for this exciting and different Colonial game-I put this game on to showcase Brian's newly painted(and what a grand job he made of them too!) Naval Brigade,who were given the main task of the night-did they do well?..........................
This is the scenario-Dave and I were the Egyptian commanders,whilst Brian commanded his Naval Brigade(naturally!) and Paul and Graham commanded the British column.
Brian's Navy Boys made short work of the Egyptian infantry unit supported by an artillery piece,which were placed in the stronghold!-at this point he must have been thinking,"well, this is going to be a walk in the park"-oh really??????
Up "popped" two units of locally recruited riflemen,and gave them hell-at this critical point his Gatling and Gardener gun both jammed-oh how he laughed!!!!-welcome to wargaming boys!!
On the other side of the table,Dave's gunners,obviously trained by Stevie Wonder,and Paul's gunners,obviously trained by Blind Pew,were blasting away at each other but doing no harm!
Graham had to listen to ,and react to, Brian's pitiful pleadings and tears for help,as his Naval Brigade(beautifully painted!) was being shot to bits-but what could he do??-well, he decided to send him a full brigade-was this a mistake???..........................
Here they come,all smart and properly uniformed,marching in nice files-what could possibly go wrong??
As the "relief" brigade formed into line,they suddenly started shooting-at what??
Well,the "wily" commander(moi!) on this flank unleashed his locally recruited tribesmen,onto the hapless British,and even taking huge casualties on the way in,managed to chop the Redcoats to bits-hurrah!!
On the other side of the table,Dave and Paul are battling it out with volley fire-Paul and his British are getting too close for my liking!-but Dave remained calm and cool(even in the desert?)
In the village,Dave is holding his own(!!!) but taking casualties from Graham's remaining gun.
In the background you can see a brown bit of "smoke"-this is the remains of the Rocket Battery that blew up on take off!!!-we laughed,they didn't!!
In desperation,Paul has charged Dave's infantry with his Lancers,and has managed to get into them,causing them a bit of bother!!
However,the British were in dis-array(to say the least) and the village still had not been captured,and we had inflicted enough casualties on them to prevent them continuing their march to Alexandria,so the Egyptians had won the day!!
Well done to Dave and I,I feel sure that the British "team" will have something to say about this report,but it is the victors that write history,and Blogs!!!
Roll on next week,don't know what we'll be playing yet.
Last night Brian and I packed our suitcases with sun cream,pith helmets and spare dentures and took ourselves off to Africa!!
Scenario and table before any movement,Brian opted to command the British,leaving me with the task of capturing the Fort and destroying the "occupants".
My Zulus(proper plural is "amaZulu") adopting the classic Chest and Horns formation,advance against Brian's forward units of RHA and NNC,who fled back to the Fort area(a wise move,Brian!!)
The troops in the Fort open up on my leading elements of my right horn,meanwhile the troops in the foreground have been told to "stand to" just in case they are attacked!(as if!!!)
This shows my right horn attacking over open ground,and covering a good distance too!
They were "shot to sh-t!!" by Brian's brave defenders!!
HOWEVER, one regiment did manage to penetrate the defences,and caused all kinds of mayhem-hurrah!!
My Left Horn is attacking,successfully, and the British defending the small enclosure and hastily built barricade,is in trouble-I have also managed to get my "chest" regiments into a good attacking position-is this going to be a rare Zulu victory??
My left horn is driving the British troops back,and my centre is also attacking,Brian,by this time was asking to lie down in a darkened room!
The British are being over-run,with no hope of victory,the Zulu were declared winners-hurrah!!
One last despairing shot of the table at the end of the game!!
Roll on Sunday,Dave has prepared a Napoleonic game,which takes the onus off me for once-come on Dave,this will be a good'un,I feel it in my waters!!!
