Fight For The Factory - An 18thC India Honours of War AAR.

Having enjoyed my first solo game since March, I thought I'd try and keep the momentum going with another outing somewhere in 18thC India. Like all kids with a new toy, I wanted to try and include my Factory model, for no other reason than I like having it on the table! Searching through my scenario books I took Scenario 16: Forlorn Hope 2 from Stuart Asquith's 'Scenarios For All Ages' as inspiration for a simple scenario. 

Simply put the Franco-Indian force is trying to make a surpise attack on the HEIC Factory, before it can be reinforced with more troops. The HEIC have added some quick field defences in the form of gabions to try and help bolster their defence. They have some Light Cavalry out scouting for the enemy, which they've failed to spot, but may turn up later in the game. The game starts as dawn breaks, with the Franco-Indian forces arriving out of the early morning light.

An overview of the table.

The Franco-Indian right wing.

The Franco-Indian centre and left wing.

The HEIC right wing, with its Dashing commander.

The HEIC field defences.

The Franco-Indian guns ready to open fire.

The end of Turn 1. The Franco-Indian right wing failed to move, but their left advanced and came under fire from the HEIC artillery. 

The end of Turn 2. Once again the Franco-Indian right wing failed to move! The HEIC right wing advanced to meet the Franco-Indian threat to their front. Both sides opened fire, causing some hits, with the artillery missing.

Both sides engage in musketry.

The end of Turn 3. Finally the Franco-Indian right wing gets moving, whilst their left wing closes with the HEIC. Artillery and musketry ripples out, with the Franco-Indian Sepoys routing as a result.

The Franco-Indian Sepoys rout, but the HEIC Sepoys take plenty of hits too.

Finally the Franco-Indian right wing advances.

Early on in Turn 4. The Franco-Indian right wing gets a move on, with a double move, finally bringing them into the game. The action hots up on the HEIC right wing...

... as the Franco-Indian Light Infantry charge the Sepoys, leading to both sides retreating back. In the musketry exchange, the Franco-Indian commander is killed!

The action kicks off on the HEIC left wing.

The HEIC Sepoys retreat back.

The Franco-Indian right wing retreats to reform, as the French Line Infantry take an additional hit as the Light Infantry retreated past them.

The end of Turn 4. The HEIC right wing is somewhat disjointed, but safe for the moment. The left wing however is under pressure.

The end of Turn 5. The action turns to the HEIC left wing and centre, as the HEIC Light Infantry are done for and rout.

The demise of the HEIC Light Infantry.

The French troops advance towards the HEIC Sepoys behind their gabions.

The Franco-Indian troops are in a good position, but are on 3 hits apiece and facing artillery and superior infantry.

The Franco-Indian left wing reforming.

A view from the Franco-Indian side as they press forward towards the objective, namely the factory.

Early on in Turn 6. The Franco-Indian troops rout the HEIC Sepoys, but lose their French Line Infantry in the process. The HEIC Line Infantry charge into the Franco-Indian Sepoys, surviving closing fire as they do so.

The HEIC Sepoys break, followed by the French Line Infantry.

The HEIC Line Infantry rout the Franco-Indian Sepoys, but have to retreat themselves, only just avoiding routing too.

The end of Turn 6. The HEIC right wing has retreated to reform, as their Light Cavalry arrives in the nick of time to support them. The Franco-Indian left wing has reformed and starts to advance.

With no troops left on their left wing, the HEIC troops are still in a good position, with the artillery and Light Infantry making it hard for anyone to assault the factory.

The 7th Light Cavalry arrive to save the day!

Colonel Hathi's elephant artillery somewhat isolated and alone.

The Franco-Indian left wing reformed, but now with a Dithering commander.

The Franco-Indian high water makr as the troops can only look on and ponder what might have been. Some Urn-Brew perhaps?

They couldn't hit an elephant even if they tried!

End of Game

With the arrival of the HEIC Light Cavalry and the loss of so many infantry, it was obvious that the Franco-Indian force was spent. The HEIC commander breathed a sigh of relief!

Post Game Thoughts

Well that was fun, even if it didn't go quite as I expected it to! As always a few musings on why this might have been etc.

• Frankly I thought that the artillery would be more effective, given that the Franco-Indian force had a heavy gun to bolster their attack. The problem was that they could only fire every other Turn (which I forgot early on!) and being Inferior Artillery, with troops behind cover, meant that they needed a 5 each time they shot to actually cause a hit. In fact all game the Franco-Indian artillery did little damage and certainly none on their HEIC counterparts. The Medium gun would have been better used in moving up to support their left wing and having the chance to get off a whiff of grapeshot.
• So attacking troops in entrenchments, behind cover or BUA's, then howitzers of mortars are probably a better bet. At least I have some so they need to jump up the painting queue.
• The gabions certainly helped keep the HEIC in the game, as without them I think they could have been overun rather quickly. 
• If the Franco-Indian right wing had not had two Turns of inactivity and had been able to make a co-ordinated attack, then I think things could have been harder for the HEIC. As it was they could deal with each attack in Turn, concentrating their fire where it mattered most.
• With the above being taken into account, I think it fair to up the strength of the Franco-Indian force, with certainly a howitzer/mortar and at least another Sepoy unit.
• Yet again the Franco-Indian force lost a commander during the game. Normally I like to do a random roll to see the quality of the replacement, but this time I just went with the rules and that they drop down  a level, hence the Dithering for the replacement.
• I rated the French artillery as Superior for shooting only, as per the amendments for the Austrian artillery, with all other stats being Standard. This feels right to me and I'll see what Dave thinks.

So there we are. Two games in two weeks: feels good! I even remembered to replace the light bulb with a brighter one and one that is more daylight in hue. It certainly made it easier to take photos, but it does cast quite a shadow. It is 60W so might replace it with a 40W one and see if it is less harsh.

What Next?

My painting mojo hasn't returned, but I'm hoping it will soon, so that I can add more core units to my forces. I think that after the concentrated spurt in advance of the CWD, I needed a break. After all it is meant to be fun and not a chore.

Games wise I think it high time for a complete change. I've had some ideas kicking around for some AVBCW action for some time, so might dust these off and see how they grab me. Probably something bigger than 2' x 2', but you never know. The only worry is that it might distract me away from the 18thC India project...

TTFN.