Battle of Burgos.25mm Viking campaign.

Bloodnok's small army is venturing its way towards the Mediterranean ,and must pass or take the town of Burgos-naturally they opt to "take!!"

Top is the scenario and map,bottom is the table before any movement.

This is King Sancho's view of the Vikings-note the Catapults!!-these did considerable damage as the Vikings advanced,especially to the cavalry.

The advance was going well,except for two things-one,the infantry attached to the cavalry,couldn't keep up,so the cavalry had to stop and await them!! two, a "random movement dice" was thrown on move three,resulting in the Viking line becoming fragmented!!-this could end in disaster for Bloodnok(who was furious at the warriors!)

Top photo shows the LF Viking cavalry mixing it with the Spanish cavalry(and not doing too well!)-bottom photo shows Eric's warriors,who had "steamed ahead" of the rest of the army,contacting the Spanish light infantry!!-These light troops did ok but were no match for the Vikings,who eventually drove them back!

This shows the RF Mercenary cavalry fighting and eventually beating the elite Spanish cavalry-after driving them back,the mercenaries threatened the whole of the Spanish LF and rear-hurrah!

The other Viking warriors have now caught up with Eric,and an epic mass melee now took place-most of the Spanish light infantry retired(it's good being retired!) back to the town,and the heavies took over the fight,giving the Vikings a hard time of it!

These two photo's show Magnus' warriors gaining the flank,and an overall photo of the state of play at about move number 9-in the background you can see the Mercenary cavalry threatening the rear of the Spanish heavies.......................

The threat is clearly shown in this shot-this was really the end of the game-both flanks have gone and although some of the Spanish heavy infantry are holding their own(steady!) the Vikings have gained yet another victory!

One final shot showing the hopeless situation of the Spanish-the town was sacked and burned,the Mercenaries were richly rewarded,and the warriors were happy to receive their share of gold etc. for their efforts!

The next,and last, town to be taken is the richest and largest of all the towns in Spain-BARCELONA!!-will the king,RAMON, face the Vikings in the field,or will he close the gates and wait for the inevitable siege????

I enjoyed the challenge of this game,with the random movement dice,catapults and the new Viking cavalry supported by an infantry contingent(which didn't work too well!)-let's see what happens next!

Battle of Twin Forks.ACW.

I was talking to Graham earlier this week,and he mentioned,just in passing, the American Civil War-I realised that I hadn't had an ACW game for a while,so decided to rectify the situation....

This is the table lay-out for the battle-I had a thought that if I sent both sets of cavalry forward to "scout" the terrain,then the inevitable fight between them would decide which side got to choose their positions..

This is the map for the cavalry action-the "scribbles" on the bottom were made after the action,which was "brisk and bloody!".......................

Three shots of the cavalry action,resulting in a draw,but both sides suffered enough casualties to keep them out of the ensuing Infantry battle!!-best laid plans etc. etc!

Top photo shows the "paper" dispositions of both armies,bottom shows the troops in place before any movement-all was set for yet another few hours of entertainment!

A couple of moves into the game,and both sides(by throw of a dice) have decided to defend their respective left flanks,and attack with their right flanks!!!!!-this game was just getting more and more interesting.

This shows the action around the farm-the Confederates attacked in force,but were eventually beaten by a combination of musketry and cannister fire-cracking stuff!

On the other flank(Union right), a mass attack was driven off by musketry,cannister and the famous rebel charge downhill,which decimated the Union ranks!!

One final shot showing the state of both sides at the end of the game-it is a testament to the excitement of the game,that I forgot to take more photo's as the game progressed!

This was another grand game,keeping me occupied through these dire times.My next game will be a continuation of my 25mm Viking campaign,but not before I attempt to paint some of the plastic Vikings that Brian kindly gave me-these will be to put into the Longships as "crew".

 

WW2 Reinforcements for the Italians

I have been putting together a piece for Dave's WW2 western desert force.

It's been on the back burner for a while and I finally completed it.

Here is the decal and paint info sheet.

The model is a Fiat CR32 biplane fighter used with great success in the Spanish Civil war and deployed in north-west Africa as well as in Abyssinia. Regarded as out of date by late 1930's it still was a superb acrobatic plane in expert hands and caused problems although it was eventually used as a ground attack plane until relegated to training roles.

Well the instruction seemed simple enough, what could possibly go wrong?

Optimistically cleaning off the parts and pre-painting where necessary, I started the project full of vigour.

Of course once the body was joined the wings were attached ..  so far so good.

Then the problems started.... the upper wings didn't want to sit with the correct geometry so drastic measures were called for.

Pulling the entire wings and struts apart structural support was applied... good old fashioned elastic bands !

Of course the undercarriage decided to protest at this treatment ... grrrr

Once the model wings were all attached, the desert camouflage was applied over the base coat of sand and decals applied.

I had pre-painted a rudimentary instrument panel prior to fitting the body together.

Some light dusting over the surfaces completed the weathered look.  

Next up some Italian armour !
 

What's Going on?

I have been a bit "lax" on the blog/game front for the past few days-THE WIFE has been diagnosed with Stenosis of the Spine ,so a couple of hospital visits have ensued,then we were called for our Covid vaccinations,then the cold weather etc.etc.etc! but I still managed to get an ECW game using my newly painted Cuirassier figures,kindly supplied by Chris,via Steel Fist Miniatures!!

Vaccination Station!!very well organised,in and out within 30 minutes!

Scenario and table set up.

All troops in positions,ready for another exciting and interesting game(mainly due to my terrible dice throwing!)

Top are the Royalist Cuirassiers,bottom are the Parliamentarian Cuirassiers-both did very well against lighter cavalry-as you would expect!!

Fire-fights,then Push of Pike-what more could you ask for in an ECW game? As the game progressed,it became apparent that the Parliamentarians couldn't take any of their objectives,so the Royalists were given the victory-I suppose in wargames terms,you could call it a draw(the casualties were exactly equal,but objectives were not taken!!!)

The "boys" are in regular touch with me and all are doing well and painting like it's going out of fashion-come on "boys" give us some photo's of what you are painting!!

Two final photo's..............................

My little "Wonder Girl" three years old today!

Parisi Hills.15mm Roman Campaign

This should be the last battle in Brittania for my Roman campaign.featuring the "Fab Four" of Crustinuts,Scrotum,Antus and Decus,but who knows??? 

The Romans have sailed back from the Isle of Man,and are on their way to "subdue" the last of the rebellious tribes,the Parisi.Crustinuts has decided to leave Scrotum and his 24th Legionaries out of this battle,but will still employ the Auxiliaries from that Legion,to bolster his left flank.

Top shows terrain map and scenario,bottom shows table before any movement-looks pretty!

Top-chariots rumble forwards,from past experience I wasn't expecting too much from them-bottom shows just how wrong I can be!!-they contacted and disrupted the Roman lines!!

This shows the Roman RF cavalry mixing it with the Parisi cavalry-this melee continued,swing this way and that,for 10 out of the 12 moves of the game-absolutely thrilling stuff!-The Romans eventually won,but at a heavy cost!

Top shows the Parisi Warbands starting to advance,bottom shows them within a charge move away,and some chariots are still in the fray!!-note the archers in the foreground(from Scrotum's 24th) doing much more than could reasonably be asked of them-and doing it well!!

The archers,with cavalry support,giving the Parisi a right old going over!-this was crucial,because if the warbands were beaten,the whole of the Parisi line could be out-flanked-knife-edge stuff!!

Two shots showing the desperate fighting going on along the whole line-remember that 2 red pom-poms equals heavy casualties-both sides are suffering!! but who will win?

The Roman RF cavalry battle-Crustinuts(me!) was just about to send a couple of cohorts to support the cavalry,when a couple of good dice throws saved the day and the Romans chased the Parisi cavalry off!!-hurrah.

This is n overall shot of the board at about move ten(of twelve) showing the archers and cavalry have gained the left flank and are threatening the whole of the Parisi line(which is "crumbling")

Top shows the Parisi about to break and run,bottom shows just how fast they can go!!-Romans are reformed and still looking pretty,but battered!!-another great game,and another victory for Crustinuts-he is looking forward to a rest-do you think he'll get one???