Wargaming 4Play.

My wargaming mojo has been weak of late, due to some glorious early Spring weather combined with the usual trials and tribulations of being a parent carer. However whilst watching Youtube one afternoon, the following popped up as a recommendation, a video from Barry Hilton on one of his 4x4 games:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lE8QDPa-LU

Many moons ago I'd seen these on his League of Augsburg site and had forgotten all about them, but they instantly reminded me of the fun you can have on quite a small table and with just a few units per side. So very 'One Hour Wagames' in fact. This spurred me on to set something up on my 2' x 2' table and see how things would play out. Afterall I was desperately in need of a wargaming hit after a few stressful days!

I decided to use the superb 'Honours of Wars' rules from my good friend Keith Flint, as not only do they always give a good game, but I had not had my 18thC figures out on the table for far too long. Having played plenty of Black Powder II earlier in the year, I felt a complete change of period was in order.

Attackers OOB

1 x Line Infantry (Superior)

3 x Line Infantry (Standard)

Defenders OOB

1 x Line Infantry (Standard)

1 x Light Infantry (Standard)

1 x Cavalry (Standard)

1 x Light Artillery (Standard)

Scenario Details

A few tweaks to suit using HoW:

• The Attacker would automatically get the Movement Initiative in the first Turn. There after to be rolled for as normal.
• Each unit would act as if it were 'Independent', using the 'Dependable' commander table.

So onto the game, with captioned photos giving details of how things unfolded.

An overview of the table, with the Attackers on the left.

Grenadiers lead the way in the centre, with Line Infantry on either flank and the centre.

The Defenders left flank.

The Defenders right flank.

The Defenders camp and slightly less than mobile artillery.

The view from the gun.

The end of Turn 1. The Attackers pushed forward, with the Grenadiers eager to close with the enemy, but the left flank failed to move. Both sides exchanged fire, but only a few hits were scored.

The Attackers right flank closes and opens fire.

The Line Infantry in the centre come under fire from the big gun.

The Grenadiers rush to try and overwhelm the Light Infantry by the barricade.

The end of Turn 2. The Attackers left flank suddenly decided to rush forward to join the action, whilst elswhere units moved forward to try and get to close range. The Defenders fire was rather effective, with the Line Infantry on the right flank forced to fall back to reform, with those in the centre just avoiding having to do so.

Devastating fire forces the Line Infantry to fall back and reform. Will they be able to make it back to the fray in time?

That big gun could have done more damage...

On the Attackers left flank, both units fail to disturb the Light Infantry behind the barricade!

The Defenders Light Cavalry poised to exploit any opportunity.

The end of Turn 3. The Defenders Light Cavalry charged the Line Infantry in the centre, routing them and then following on to the Line Infantry in the right who were reforming, routing them too. Simply devastating! Elsewhere the Grenadiers had been forced to retreat to reform and then routed as the Line Infantry from the centre fled past them. It was all over in a flash!

The Light Cavalry have taken hits, but see the second Line Infantry unit rout from their charge.

The Line Infantry from the centre and victims of the first charge in full on rout.

The Grenadiers follow suit.

Despite being in an excellent postion, the Line Infantry unit were all on their own.

The Defenders happy with how things panned out.

Post Game Thoughts

Well that was fast and furious and lots of fun, despite lasting only 3 Turns! It certainly did what I hoped it would do in allowing me to get in a very quick and simple game after a couple of weeks away from the games room. As always a few thoughts etc:

• Despite not having played 'Honours of War' for quite some time, the rules all came back to me and felt very comfortable to play. I only had to refresh my mind a few times with the rulebook, as otherwise the QRS did everythinng I needed. A perfect reason to continue with sticking to a few core rulesets.
• This sort of scenario, where you are straight into the action, is a great way to quickly learn the basic rules mechanics of any new set, or old ones for that matter. I think my game took about 45 minutes to play, if that, so plenty of time to press the re-set button at the end and have another go.
• To play this again I think I would tweak the forces involved to suit the period and the rules, possibly giving the Attacker a lsight numerical or qualitative advantage. I've left the game set up so I can have a play around with this.
• With the size of the board, I can see maybe up to 6 units per side working well and possibly a few more Turns. So as mentioned a the the start, all very 'One Hour Wargames' stuff.
• The Attackers poor shooting in Turn 2 coupled with the opposite for the Defenders did for them in the end. There is no chance for subtly here as the scenario is very much about trying to overwhelm the Rearguard so the main force can try to get through. Normally you would hope to whittle the Defender down, but no chance of that here, which presents an interesting challenge.
• The Light Cavalry's charge was very cinematic and as seen, very devastating. They bided their time well and made the most of the opportunity presented to them.
• As with many of my recent games, this one has reminded me of how much I still have to paint, even to get to a good core force for both sides. But possibly more on that in another post...

Well I hoped you liked this quick little AAR and as always, any comments greatly appreciated!

TTFN.