Prince August Romans and Barbarians.8.5.12.

My old mate Allan came down today for a game, and so I decided to put my Prince August cast your own figures onto the board for their "maiden battle" I only fielded Legio Phoenix and some Auxilliaries and Cavalry (I will keep Legio Nova for another day!) against most of my Prince August Barbarians.
Allan decided he would take command of the Barbarians,leaving the Romans to me.We had an excellent game with highs and lows to both sides,my legion did well but I was let down by my Auxilliaries and Cavalry,as you can tell by the way I am putting this,I lost!! however like most Wargamers I put it down to bad dice throwing !
This first photo shows the Legion in the centre with aux. troops on the flanks. Here is a shot showing the Legion in all it's spleandour,ie. before the Barbarians got to work with it.

A close up of a couple of cohorts, preparing to get to grips with the enemy.

This show the Barbarian line up befor the game started,pretty impresive and frightening.

Another shot showing the hordes of troops about to throw themselved against the might of Rome.

Sma troops, different angle and showing the barbarian left flank.

Roman cavalry on the left flank,they looked good but didn't like fighting very much!(these are Lancashire Games figures)

The Romans have advanced,as have the Barbarians,and a clash is taking place,javelins and pila being thrown all over the garage. On the flank, the Cavalry move into melee,we classed the Barbarian cav. as elite and gave them a good fighting ability,hence the "bashing" they gave the Romans.

This is Allan looking "smug" as my Legion is being pounded into submission,did I mention it was bad dice throwing and not my tactics that were at fault?

Desperate fighting in the centre,Legion being assailed on all sides while the Auxilliary inf. are "melting " away in the bottom left .

Cavalry being pushed back on the flank,it's all over now,ti,me for some lunch and a discussion as to what went wrong! This was a thoroughly enjoyable game,perhaps next time I will stand more of a chance if I field both Legions.

1715 Jacobite uprising.6.5.12.

For Sunday's game I decided to do something a little different,and decided on the Jacobite uprising of 1715,but with a bit of a twist,in that the English would be assisted by 4 regiments of German troops sent by King George the first,and the Scots to be assisted by 4 regiments of Irish(Wild Geese) sent by King Louis of France.The scenario is shown below. This is an overall view of the Jacobite positions at the start of the game.

This is an overall view of the English positions at the start of the game,it is worth pointing out that both sides decided to bring on their "foreign" troops on the same flank,ie,Scots right and English left,this made for a real "tussle" towards the end of the game.

This is a shot of the Scots centre and left flank,they decided to hold their attack until a hill to their front had been abandoned by some "raw" English troops,they then left a holding force and advanced on the English centre.

This shows the "raw" English troops who abandoned the hill,supported by some Cavalry.

This photo shows the English left flank being supported bya gun,which was overun by an audacious Scots clan who crossed a stream,climbed a hill,then crossed a bridge,and eventually charged the gunners and captured the gun,all "unseen" by the English commander who was concentrating his attention on an impending attack on his centre !!

This is what the English commander was concentrating on,a mass attack by the Scots clans aimed at his centre regiments,who were mostly "raw" troops,although they did stand and volley and then melee'd to good effect,however the clans rallied and eventually defeated most of the English regiments.The German troops had now decided to take part in the battle,and the Scots thought they had better retire and leave the rest of the fighting to the "professionals".

A shepherd and his flock of sheep observing the battle from the safety of a nearby hill.

The Scots had an unfair advantage (according to the English) by bringing their hunting dogs along !!

This shows the Cavalry clash on the Scots left flank,the Gentlemen Volunteers,on the Scots side,were soundly thrashed by the English cav.even though their fighting ability was higher!

This shows the massive attack on the English centre,with their Irish allies just forming up ready to do battle with the Germans.

The caption for this photograph must be,Pink tee shirt IN, Street cred OUT !! This is of course the English team of Robin and Paul,they weren't smiling at the end of the game though.

The Irish and Germans volleying each other from fairly close range,although the Germans got the better of the Irish (and brought down two of their officers) it was decided that the game could not be won by this unlikely alliance and the Scots would proceed south spreading death and destruction and the benefits of Haggis and deep fried Mars bars to the English!!

Mahratta Wars

It has been a while since I (Dave) posted about my Mahratta Wars project. This year I have decided to push on with it and get to a point where I can actually play some games! With this in mind I have been keeping my eyes open for any painted figures and terrain to supplement my very slow build up of forces. I picked up this lovely Foundry elephant from Ebay a couple of weeks ago for the same price as the unpainted casting (+ the additional foot figure). I think I got a bargain. My mate Michael purchased it through his Ebay account and has offered to cover the cost in exchange for me painting some Napoleonic British command figures for him. So, in effect, this beauty has cost me nothing! Thanks Michael!

The figure above is one which I have just finished painting and is a colonel of the 74th foot, William Wallace, one of my infantry brigade commanders. He is a Redoubt figure, as is the majority of my collection, and is a lovely sculpture.

Above he is shown with another command figure I have just completed. This Indian Prince will either represent Daolat Scindia or another Mahratta chief, I have not decided yet. Again the figure is by Redoubt.

Another shot of the Prince.

Next I thought I would show some of the books I have used whislt researching this fascinating period. The first three have been published by Leonaur and I was made aware of them through reading the blog "Joy nad Forgetfulness". I would recommend this blog to anyone as it is thought provoking and well written but above all very entertaining.

The first book is my latest purchase and I have currently read about half of it. A great read which adds flavour and insight to the period and which has determined me to have a unit of Skinners horse eventually!

The next book charts General Lakes Northern campaign in Hindustan and, although I intend to build my forces around Wellesleys Deccan army, gives some great ideas for scenarios. Of course I will expand my British to include some of Lakes units at a later date.

The next book, written around 1900, is less impressive but still gives some useful information, especially regarding De Boigne and George Thomas (the latter I was not aware of until reading this book).
The downside of the Leonaur books is that they do not contain maps or diagrams and there is no index! This makes it more difficult to go back and cross reference, an essential part of researching armies and ideas for rule ammendments. Still, they are fairly cheap!

I was a little disappointed with the above book as it covers a long period of time and therefore only a small part touches on the time of the 2nd Mahratta war. However I was still able to glean some useful information from it.

Burtons book was one of the first I bought and although it gives some useful information on Pindarries for example, I could probably do without it in my collection.

The Grant and Asquith booklet does what it says on the label! It is a useful wargamers guide with good info on the various armies and a potted history of the Mysore campaigns against Tipoo as well as the 2nd Mahratta war. It also has some scenario ideas and simple maps which will enable the wargamer to set up interesting games. Highly recommended.
   One book I have omitted to show is Wellington in India by Jac Weller. I picked up my used copy last year for only 20 quid and it is simply essential reading for anyone interested in the period. A good narrative history and a cracking read.

  As i mentioned at the start I am determined to push on with this collection and have already made some key purchases in building my armies. I have recently received another package of figures from Redoubt and these arecurrently on the painting table. Also I am anticipating the delivery of some flags this week from The Virtual Armchair General who does a comprehensive range for the 2nd Mahratta war. Once these have arrived I will get them on my completed units and post some pics.

40mm. Prince August castings.

Dave mentioned last night that he had been "talking" to someone on the Miniatures Page,about opur collection of Prince August home cast figures,so here is a selection of photos taken today and ready for our game on Sunday.I have had my collection for about 35 years and the nations I have represented are:- British,French,Bavarian,Austrian,Prussia,Russia,Dutch and Hanover;each nation has between 4 and 6 regiments of infantry,4/6 regiments of cavalry,and 2gun batteries,plus command figs,I estimate that I have approx.1200 figures in total.Throughout the years we have been playing with these figs.they have been knocked about a bit ,and I must admit that we don't play with them as regularly as we used to,however the "toy soldier" appeal of the figs. is just as great noe as when we first started with them.I have deliberately painted them "toy soldier" style,and they are due for a re-base very soon,they look worn and old (a bit like me!!)However here is a selection of photos, and I hope you enjoy them.

Zulu game 3.5.12.

This game proved to be another exciting and nail biting game,between Paul,commanding the Zulu and me (John) commanding the British.Overall tactics were down to the period,ie. the zulu would attack as per tried and tested centre and horns,whilst the poor old British would attempt to keep them at long range with rifle and artillery fire,from a very advantageous position.....well that was the idea!! The photo below shows the table as it was set up,with the Zulu moving into its positions and getting ready to attack,with the British occupying the ridge and buildings on the left of the picture. This shows the British camp and good defensive lines,the buildings were a bit exposed and isolated,a fact not wasted on the Zulu commander,who attacked it with "gusto",sending three regiments against it.The British company fought well,but the N.N.C. supporting them didn't like the idea of crossing spears with the Zulu and beat a hasty retreat once things hotted up!

This shows the company of the 80th foot and accompanying N.N.C. before the Zulu storm hit them.

The Zulu left horn approaching the British lines,and coming under tremendous fire from Gatling and company fire.

The main ridge is shown here and the volume of rifle and artillery fire given to the brave Zulu regiments attacking.

This shows Paul's right horn attacking my left flank,I opted to also attack,this strange tactic threw the Zulu for a while until all four regiments got into position and forced me to retire and fire as I went,but not before i suffered a "bloody nose". Dave can be seen in the background,he popped i n to see the game before starting night shift-now there's keeness for you!

First contact! Paul's left horn reaches my companies on the ridge and a fearful and long lasting melee took place with fortunes going both ways,I eventually drove him back,but then was threatened on my flank and was forced to retire also,good "ding dong" stuff.

This a general view of the British line being assailed by hordes of Zulu regiments and only just holding on.

Zulu reserve,who attacked the defensive position and buildings, about to beat the defenders and push them out of the position....no sign of their supporting N.N.C.!!

A British company fighting a centre regiment of Zulu,this was a crucial melee which was won by the British, and possibly saved the game for the British,who were now in a position to threaten the whole Zulu line.

In this shot,although the British have fallen back from repeated Zulu assaults,they are in a position to mount an attack with artillery from thr right hand hill,and the left flank is now secure,it was only a matter of time before the Zulu retired to their kraals!!