A Busy Weekend.

 

Over the weekend I cast up 2 squadrons worth of 40mm cavalry , using some of the unwanted figures 'A' gave me . The figures at the back of the photo are the second squadron for the French Regt. Nassau-Sarrebruck as well as the H.Q. figures for this regiment. The figures at the front are the first of a yet unidentified Allied heavy cavalry unit .

 

 

The Nassau-Sarrebruck command - the kettle drummer is SOOOO cute !

 

 

The basic figure for the new Allied regiment . Cleverly the mold produces a horse with 5 legs and 2 tails ! , which of course you remove one of the legs and one of the tails allowing for variants . I cast the figures in three sessions over the weekend , it took this long because of the number of miss casts which is higher in cavalry figure molds and the weather being cold (the snow finally arrived) which causes the camping gas stove I use to burn poorly - something to do with the liquid gas and the cold - I remember in my youth camping in cold weather and having to take the small gas canister into the sleeping bag to keep it warm so that in the morning you could brew up tea. I have the pleasure now of selecting the unit for the next Allied cavalry , was going to make it British but not sure, at moment it may be one of the German states, going to start thumbing through my Osprey books . 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Holding The Vlliage (Finale)

 

The cavalry melee goes into it's second move and results in the French Hussars retreating .

 

 

Move Allied reinforcements arrive , events are turning against the French .

 

 

The company of the French Regt. Du Roi manage to break into the village and take over the large house , however Allied infantry are closing in and they have manoeuvred their gun to fire at the building at close range !.

 

 

French reinforcements arrive in the form of another company of the Swiss Regt. Castellas , newly painted and the varnish still tacky - but to late to save the day for the French.

 

 

With mounting casualties and both flanks now threatened by Allied cavalry, Comte Du Fru-Fru decides discretion is the better part of valour and signals for his forces to retire . A overwhelming Allied victory with the French suffering double the number of casualties . The French were unlucky with their reinforcement dice and I was perhaps to generous with allowing the Allied reinforcements a chance to arrive early . A great game which played well and was exciting to the very end. Now I'm off to cast up some more cavalry for the next game.  P.S. Blogger has seemed to have cured itself and is now allowing photos to be loaded as normal without using Picassa - I do wish they would stop messing with it !.

 

 

 

 

Holding The Village (Parte the Thirde)

I brave the near Arctic conditions of my wargaming room (the 'toy soldier' room my wife calls it !?) to bring you the third instalment of this increasingly exciting battle .

 

The Regt. Du Roi storms the village , they succeed in forcing a entry but are ejected by the brave Jaegers and lose heavily. (a bit of a blurred photo - camera shake probably due to the cold !)

 

 

The survivor's of the attack retreat.

 

 

More reinforcements for the Allies arrive - 2 companies of the British 20th Foote. (if I were to play this game again I might make it a bit harder for the Allied reinforcements to arrive - but such are the vagaries of the dice !)

 

 

On the right of the village the two forces of Hussars clash in a protracted melee.

 

 

Uncle Toby encourages the British Foote on !

 

 

A second attempt to storm the village struggles to gain a foothold.

 

 

Sensing victory is on hand the Carbineers attack the reformed Chasseurs and drive them off again . The remnants of the Regt. Du Roi rally to their standards in the centre.

 

 

The situation about half way through the day, on the right of the village the cavalry fight continues , the French infantry try again to force a entry into the houses but British troops are moving up to flank them. In the centre Count De Fru-Fru tries to reorganise the French Foote. The Allied Carbineers are victorious on the left , in the distance French reinforcement move up - but will they be in time ? Too be continued ........ 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An Aside / Personality Figure.

 

I should be reporting the third part of my 40mm SYW  game, but the weather has turned very cold and my wargaming room is NOT the warmest place in this type of weather . My wargaming colleague 'S' regularly dons several layers of extra clothing to game with me at this time of year. Fear not !, I will continue with the game shortly.  I found the above 40mm figure on EBay , manufacturer unknown . He is actually a Marlburian figure I think (?) but as there are not many 40mm figs about I bought him on a whim ! . He will be Uncle Toby an English Officer and Gentleman - okay several wars and decades out of period , but I don't care ! . Now I need a suitable figure for his servant Corporal Trim . I have tried to read 'Tristram Shandy' several times but failed (hangs head in shame)(where of course Uncle Toby appears) this may spur me on to try again !. P.S. just noticed this is my 200th post ! Huzza !

Holding The Village (Parte the Secunde)

 

Col. Scheither orders his Carbineers to the left flank to protect the gun and crew .The gun fires - but misses ! , the Col. sends orders to "wait till they can see the whites of their eyes "! (historians have argued that this is the first usage of this phrase !?)

 

 

Luckily the Allies receive reinforcements on the second move in the form of 'Black' Prussian Hussars . Col. Scheither greets them with relief !.

 

 

The French Regt. Du Roi deploys into column of companies .

 

 

The Chasseurs 'crown the hights'

 

 

The Carbineers charge them taking 2 casualties but drive the Chasseurs off !.

 

 

The Regiment Du Roi advance but take casualties from the Jaegers hidden in the buildings . Too be continued .....

 

 

 

 

 

Holding The Village (Parte the First)

Leaving my Napoleonic troubles behind me, I decided to return to an old favourite - 'Charge' and play a game using them and my 40mm SYW  figures.

 

In a audacious move Col. Scheither and his Frei-Korp have made a night attack on the French held village of Malerischen Alten Dorf and driven the small garrison out . He has established his force in and around the village to hold the French off till reinforcements reach them.

 

 

To the right of the village the cannon .

 

 

To the left the Grenadier company hold a small orchard .

 

 

The centre is held by the Jaeger company , in and around the houses and narrow streets . The Colonel has held the Carbineer company to the rear as a reserve. They await the French !.

 

 

They do not have to wait long !. The Comte De Fru-Fru appalled by the effrontery of the Allies in capturing the village in such a underhand way as a night attack, is leading a force to recapture the village . The Chasseurs De Sombreuil lead the way .

 

 

Followed by the Regiment Du Roi.

 

 

The table set up for the battle. I will be using 'Charge' rules with the solo adaption of drawing cards for moving units - Black cards for the French ,Red cards for the Allies . The game will last 1 day (20 moves) and the arrival of reinforcements for the Allies will be done by a increasing dice roll per move . (on move one - 1D6 on move two 2D6 etc a 6 being needed to bring on reinforcements) . All muskets will have only 6 shots of ammunition . Too be continued........

 

 

 

 

 

 

Napoleonic Problems.

Well I tried out the rules 'About Bonaparte' - and found them not for me ! - sadly .  There is nothing wrong with the rules , they are quick and relatively simple to use, BUT not Old School !. If I may explain my problems with my Napoleonic armies (I will be laying down on a couch whilst typing this and will have a bearded Freudian gentleman taking notes ) , my 28mm Napoleonics were bought on mass from Foundry when they did army and unit deals and were to be used for Grant's Napoleonic Wargaming rules . The problem was that I found that his Napoleonic rules were not as good as his Horse & Muskets set , the morale rules do not seem to work and the combat systems for hand to hand clashes are a bit cumbersome , the shooting rules are straight forward enough but I ended up disillusioned with them and mothballed my figures. I do believe General De Brigade rules give a good Napoleonic game and I have played them successfully in the past ,but for solo play they are rather slow and there are a lot of rules to remember - and they are not O.S. ! .What I want is single based figures , big battalions , simple rules that can be remembered easily , are conducive to solo play and give a quick decisive game!.  So my quest goes on- I will look again at the Grant Napoleonic rules and maybe try grafting on a simple morale system onto them .

A New Year Game.

First of all I would like to wish all of you out there in 'blogger land' a Happy New Year and secondly to tell of a problem I have - Napoleonics ! . People who know me are aware of my troubles with this period , it's the rules - I cannot find a set I like with which to play solo 'Old School' type games. I do believe that 'General De Brigade' are a fine set and give a wonderful game -but- are not very solo friendly . So I was persuaded by wargaming colleague 'A' that 'About Napoleon ' were the set of rules for me and will solve all my phobias about the period . So I sent off for a set and the special dice for the game ( I like special dice - it was this that sold the rules to me ).

 

The rules and special dice . These are used in command , shooting and combat and have 2x I , 1x C, 1x A, a Flag, a blank -  I is for infantry, C for cavalry , A for artillery , the flag allows any groups or units to be moved and the blank means nothing happens/casualties etc. Sound complicated but it seems having read the rule its not , Generals and officers roll dice to motivate/command units , units roll dice for firing and combat . The flag symbol in firing/combat means a morale reversal the others remove the appropriate figure types.

 

 

I decided to set up a small game to try them out . An Austrian advance guard is advancing and is confronted with a small Bavarian force (at the far end of the table).

 

 

The Austrian commander views his troops move up - Hussars, Jaegers and 2 units of Grenz.

 

 

The Bavarian General positions his artillery.

 

 

The Bavarian infantry wait in columns . Well I'm off to play a few moves to see how they work , you can read a set of rules as often as you like but until you start playing on the table with them you cannot tell how they will perform ! To be continued......