Battle of Fort Nobb,1816.

Now for something completely different!!-I haven't used my A.W.I. Rangers and Indians figures for a while,so I decided I would combine a Napoleonic game with them!! Paul and Brian teamed up as British and Rangers commanders whilst I was in total command(?) of the French and Indians-look out for move number two!!!!

The "strange" scenario is shown in the top photo,and the table before any movement in the bottom one.

From the word "go!" Brian commenced an almost suicidal(yet persistent) attack on the fort-with a combination of volley and cannister fire I destroyed his first wave,but he had more!! and used them to good effect-the swine!!

Paul's Rangers and my Indians were moving tentatively towards each other through the woods,when,all of  a sudden,we had to throw a dice!!-why? asked Paul,well,on a throw of a two,his second Ranger unit was attacked by a hidden BEAR!! and two points were taken from the unit!!-I also had to throw and I threw a five,meaning that my fifth War Party was subjected to attack by a hidden pack of WOLVES!!(I know,I know!!) which also killed my officer of that unit so I lost three points!!

What do Bears do in the woods?-attack passing Rangers,that's what!! But what do Wolves do in the woods?..............

Maul Indian War Parties,that's what!!!
While all this silliness was going on,Brian was trying to concentrate on the game,and was putting in another attack on the Fort.

This time from both the flank and the front at the same time!-Brian had limited ammo. with his guns,but used his shots well,and my defending French were taking casualties.

As Paul and I skirmished and fought in the woods,Brian's persistence has paid off,and he has driven the French from the ramparts!!

Brian is now concentrating his efforts against the other side of the Fort-it looks like it will only be a matter of time before I am over-whelmed!-How are my Indians doing??

They are retiring to their village for a well-earned rest(ie. Running Away!!)-oh dear!

With the British inside the Fort,and the Indians "resting" it was game over for the French!!
This was a very interesting game,full of "dash" and colour,and of course something different!!
Well done to Paul and Brian.
Roll on Sunday,Paul has requested a Carthaginian vs Roman game-but who knows??

The Vikings Have Landed!!

After only a few days wait,my Viking Army has arrived from Warrior Miniatures,and I am so pleased with them!!
I wanted 12 units of 16 figures each,plus 8 Beserkers,which comes to 200 figures................

£86 for 200 figures-totally amazing,that works out at 43p per figure(the £86 includes P&P!)

This is the first 16,under-coated and "weaponed up"-a good variety of axes and spears are sent too!!

The detail on all of the figures is good-as my painting style is not very good,they are just right for me.

Swordsman-can't wait to get started-a few weeks hard painting will see these on the board!!

By way of a contrast,especially on price,these four figures cost me £7.50p after a £1 discount!!-they are from Perry's and the detail is superb-until the Vikings get in among them!!!
So I will get these "priests" etc finished today,and tomorrow the Vikings will get started in earnest!!

Battle of "Vestenfelds" 101AD.

We had a "corker" of a game last night,fighting Romans against Germans.Paul and I were in charge of the Romans whilst Brian and Graham took the role of German commanders.
The Roman's morale and fighting points were reduced due to a rumour spreading around their camp that the Germans were all over 7 feet tall,boiled their prisoners alive then ate them!!

The "usual" scenario and table before any movement-the terrain was quite tricky for the Germans,who had to attack between mountains,hills and open plains.

Before the game started,Brian had the option of adopting a wedge formation with his Germans,which he took-this gave them a real "edge" in the first round of melee!!

Brian's "leisurely" movement with his wedges favoured an extension to my front line with two cohorts from my second line-Graham looks relaxed!!-but he wasn't!! all hell broke loose on the far flank from move number two,skirmishing and charges going in all over the place!!

Is he asleep??-go on Paul,wake him up with a couple of arrow shots!

Old African proverb-"never poke a sleeping lion with a stick!!"-now look what you've done!!
Graham has launched his whole force against Paul's auxiliaries,who,it must be said,put up a good show for a while.

Oh dear,gaps have started to appear in Paul's line-however I am sending him my cavalry,as my line extension is now complete and no Germans will ever get through(what am I saying?)

Look at that line!-unbreakable,even from a.......................................

Oh bloody hell!!!!!!!-the wedges have hit and the Roman line is "fractured"-more troops are being sent to support the cohorts fighting for their little lead lives in the front rank!

As another wedge hits the Romans,things are not looking good,however Paul is managing a "fighting retreat" with his troops-phew!!

Paul's troops are retiring now at a rate of knots!!-what happened to the "fighting retreat"???

With the Roman lines broken and retreating all over the place,Paul and I said we would accept a "Draw"-this offer was met with a torrent of vile and abusive language-ok then we are beaten!!
This was tense and exciting game from start to finish,played in good spirit-well done to us all.
The new playing surface is proving a "hit" with everyone-which is just as well!!
Roll on Thursday-no idea yet what we will be playing.

Cropredy Bridge 29th June 1644.

Last night we attempted to recreate the Battle of Cropredy Bridge 1644,Paul and Graham were the Royalist commanders whilst Brian and I were in charge of the Parliamentarians.The scenario and terrain were quite difficult to stick to on the wargames table,so I suppose the game we played was my "take" on the actual battle.

Top photo is the scenario we played to and the bottom photo is the table before any movement.
Graham was in charge of the rear column and Paul was the Vanguard and "off-table" cavalry.

Despite having a "free shot" on Graham's troops in the first move,he reformed his infantry and cavalry and gave me the proverbial "bloody nose" for my troubles in the second and third moves,forcing me to "retire" up Boulton Hill.Graham then had the audacity to give chase with his cavalry....................

The bounder!!!!-I did manage to establish a firing line on the top of the hill,but my morale was "shot" and it was only a matter of time before my whole force fled the field!!!

Meanwhile,on the other flank,Brian has lost the race to get to Cropredy Bridge and fords,and has contented himself with contesting the crossings.However Paul's cavalry have now made their appearance,and are moving forward to help the out-numbered infantry!!

It's all action in this shot-Paul has actually managed to get one unit of infantry across the ford,and is meleeing without support-he could be in trouble!!

Brian has pushed Paul's Infantry back across the ford,but he has been forced to retire on the far left,leaving that ford  unguarded!!-With my flank in total dis-array,and Graham being in a position to reform and out-flank Brian's troops,we called it a day.Eleven moves and a real historical result can't be bad(unless you're a Parliamentarian of course!!)
Roll on Sunday,an Ancients battle,just to get back into the swing of things again.

Carronade 2016 Falkirk

As a follow up to John's report we thought we would share some of the photographs we took, not only of our game but also some of the other fantastic games presented.

Well done everyone for contributing to a fantastic day especially the Falkirk District Wargames Club who work really hard to put on this really well supported event.

The pre game chill out

Our Assaye Game Pics

A great Napoleonic game "Retreat from Moscow 1812"

 and a fantastic scene of the "D Day landing 1944"

and finally...

Michael has added these figures to his extensive British Napoleonic collection 

Captions please?

Carronade 2016 Show Reort.

What an absolutely tremendous week-end we've had up in "Bonny Scotland" attending Carronade,and a huge thank-you must go out to Kenny and the rest of the crew at Falkirk and district wargamers for making us so welcome-well done lads,a great show!!
We drove up on Friday morning,and set the game up on Friday afternoon-when we got to the venue we helped put the tables up for Demo games and traders...........

This is how the hall looked when we arrived(one of two that are used downstairs,with further rooms being utilised upstairs)

Paul carrying two at once!!-show off!

Taking shape-Dave is being "supervised" by Brian!!

Once all the tables were brought in,we were allocated our space,and began to set the "Assaye" game up(Brian is behind Dave supervising us!!)-Leon and his Dad are setting up their "stall" behind Paul and Michael(who drove down from Aberdeen to be with us.)

9.30AM on Saturday morning-the game is all set up and we are just about to start.

We even had a display of a sword and pistol and cannon/musket balls,as well as a good array of books about the period and battle-these proved a great "draw" to other wargamers and the public.

As the game started,we played our "trump" card-flashing red LED lights to represent the guns firing-this also attracted a lot of attention,and drew people to the game to talk about the battle and the figures and fort etc.etc.-tremendous!

Whilst Brian is supervising the game,Dave is explaining to an interested "gamer" the finer details of the battle,our rules,and how we expect the game to develop.

Go on kiddo,shoot him!!!-we all took turns to talk to people about the weapons involved,and explain the workings of "flint lock guns"-this was great for adults and children alike.

As the game progressed,the hall filled up rapidly,we had Charles S Grant at our table for a long time-this was his "period" and his old regiment,the 78th Foot took part,so had a particular interest,he also signed a couple of books for Michael too.

"Old Glory" Andy and Dave spent a long time talking about the battle and all things Wargaming,meanwhile Paul,adopting a most peculiar pose, is chatting to some interested gamers!!

Two more very welcome visitors to our table,Charlie Wesencraft and Norma-they also took paricular interest in the game.You can see how the hall has filled up with Traders and other Groups putting on Demonstration and Participation games-every taste was catered for,from Sci-Fi,WW2,Ancients,Napoleonics,Civil War etc. etc.-the "canteen" was busy all day too-this was organisation at its best!!

Our game also progressed and the Village of Assaye is now being attacked-the game actually "panned out" very much like the real battle,and the Indian line is wavering,allowing the British infantry to outnumber them and begin a most marvellous advance!!

This shot shows the game almost finished,the Indian line is broken and the cavalry are just about to be sent "reeling" by a combination of cannister fire and a counter-charge by the British cavalry-hurrah!!

The hall is slowly emptying,and last minute shoppers are spending the last of their money-only one thing left now,before we pack our game away and head for the hotel-and that is to be awarded "Runner-up" trophy for the Demo games-we were "chuffed" and asked Kenny to capture the moment..........................

Here it is-the moment!! the competition was close,because of the very high standard of games.
Now what should we do?

Go to the Bar of course!!
A great Show-well done to us all,but especially Dave for all his effort in pulling it altogether.

The Trophy!!-I think we deserve a special trophy for having the nerve to wear those "Geranium Red" shirts!!!!!!-roll on next year.
Wayne Bolland of Wargames Illustrated was very interested in our game,took a few photographs and asked us to write an article for the magazine,which we will do in the near future-more praise indeed!!