OHW Scenario 20: Fighting Retreat

With the Cotswold Wargames Day fast approaching, I thought I'd better get a game or two in to re-familiarise myself with Black Powder II, the rules I'm planning on using for the day. Looking back at my AAR's, and its been about year, maybe a tad more, since they featured in a game! Keeping things simple and an excuse to use my new river sections, I turned to the ever useful One Hour Wargames scenarios to come up with a game. No AI used here I tell you!

Scenario Details

The Blue Army has been raiding Red territory and are making a hasty run for safety to their side of the border, with the Red Army in hot pursuit.

OOB Blue

2 x Brigades, each with: 3 x Line Infantry, 1 x Light Infantry, 1 x Artillery.

OOB Red

2 x Brigades, each with: 3 x Line Infantry, 1 x Light Infantry, 1 x Artillery.

1 x Brigade: 2 x Mounted Infantry, 1 x Horse Artillery.

The Game

The objective was for the Blue Army to reach the safety of a hill, that for Red to take the hill. Simples.

The Blue Army starts on the table on the right hand side, next to but not across the river. The Red Army will arrive at the start of Turn 2 from the right hand table edge.

The Blue Army right flank.

The Blue Army left flank.

The hill that is the objective.

A fuzzy shot of the Red Army ready to roll.

Some gratuitous shots of the new river sections!

Both Blue columns make smart moves across the river on Turn 1.

The end of Turn 2. The Blue Army has already put good distance between itself and the pursuing Red Army.

The Blue Army is closing in on the hill.

The Red Army left flank manages to reach the river as the last of the Blue Army cross the bridge.

The Blue Army left flank column again puts good distance between itself and the enemy, although the Red Mounted Infantry cross the ford and threaten their rear.

The end of Turn 4. The Blue Light Infantry have managed to hold all attempts by the Red Army to push them back from the bridge and the ford. This has allowed the Blue Army to form a very good defensive position on and around the hill.

The Blue right flank.

The Blue centre on the hill.

The Blue left flank.

Outnumbered 3:1, the Blue Light Infantry on the left flank stubbornly refuse to budge.

A similar situation on the Blue right flank.

The end of Turn 6. The Red Army has only managed to force the Blue left flank Light Infantry back 'whipped', other than that, Blue has just waited in a strong defensive position as they have no need to move nor fire.

The Red Army left flank have been unable to force a crossing over the bridge.

The Red Army right flank finally has the way clear to cross the ford.

The gallant and brave Blue Light Infantry are finally forced back 'whipped'.

A view of the Blue Army's defensive postions on and around the hill.

Little Round Top.

End of Game

With 6 Turns of the usual 8 Turns already gone, it was obvious that the Red Army could not move and contest the hill before time ran out, so I called the game as a comprehensive Blue victory.

Post Game Thoughts

Well that was a funny old game to say the least and an unsatisfying one too! Why? Well some thoughts below:

• Despite not having played BPII for a year or more, it all came back to me, with the QRS being used for most of the game and with occasional reference to the main rulebook, which has a brillaint contents page, which makes this a very easy thing to do.
• Originally I had the Mounted Infantry as 2 x Cavalry and 2 x Light Infantry, but after the first moves, it was obvious that I needed to amend this due to the rapid moves by the Blue troops. This was because I use the Glory Hallelujah! amendments that means if a unit moves more than once, it cannot fire. Also I feel it unrealistic for say the Red Cavalry to suddenly arrive on the table and charge the Blue Light Infantry in the rear.
• Aside from some excellent command rolls by the Blue Army, the +2 to the command rolls when in march column and on the road, meant that short of rolling and 11 or 12 on 2D6, the Blue Army could easily cross the river and form a defensive position, making it very hard for Red to then have a realistic chance of crossing the river to contest the hill.
• If I was to play this again, I would add a movement penalty for the ford and the wooden bridge, as well as limiting the march column bonus to a +1 at best. This would still allow the Blue Army a chance to steal a march on the Red Army, but not too much as to spoil the game.
• Both Blue Light Infantry units were simply stubborn and outstanding all game. On the right flank, I was somewhat reminded of the lone Viking at Stamford Bridge holding up the Saxon Army!
• All of the above should be considered alongside the fact that the Red dice rolling for shooting was truly shocking, barely causing any hits and most of those were saved until Turn 6. Even if the shooting had been better, I still think it a tough ask for the Red Army in this scenario.
• To make it a more even or enjoyable game, I think there needs to be a better ratio for Red vs Blue than the 3:2 in the current scenario. That and maybe some tweaks on Reds arrival or maybe to make the river fordable all over, but at a larger movement penalty that for at the ford or the bridge. Plenty to ponder for sure.

What Next?

Ideally I would like to get another game or two in before the CWD to really get familiar with the rules again. Figure wise I am painting more units, but rather slowly, as I don't want to force it and not enjoy the experience. At least I have enough units for the show. Scenario wise still rather up in the air, but at least the fluff is all roughed out.

Thanks for getting this far after a rather bloodless and inactive AAR. As always any comments greatly appreciated!

TTFN.

OHW Scenario 19: Blow From The Rear

With the third heatwave having finally broken, I managed to snatch a free few hours whilst SWMBO was out, to get another game of Honours of War in. Having had it set up for nearly a week, it was nice to finally have the time and motivation to get it played.

The Scenario

This is based upon the Battle of Krefeld 1758, but has been tweaked for the OHW rules, with further tweaks made by me to try and make it work for Honours of War.

The Blue General is defending two river crossings from what he thinks is a numerically inferior Red force. His complacency will be shattered when an additional Red force arrives in the Blue rear area.

Victory Conditions: The Red Force will win if there are no Blue units within 3" of either river crossing at the end of Turn 8.

OOB Austrian (Red)

2 x Infantry Brigades, each - 3 x Line Infantry, 1 x Medium Artillery

1 x Light Infantry Brigade - 2 x Light Infantry

1 x Cavalry Brigade - 2 x Cavalry

- 50% of the army starts to the North of the river.

- On Turn 3, the other half of the army arrives on the Western table edge.

OOB Prussian (Blue)

2 x Infantry Brigades, each - 3 x Line Infantry, 1 x Medium Artillery

1 x Mixed Brigade - 1 x Light Infantry, 1 x Medium Artillery, 2 x Cavalry

- 1/3 of the army is in reserve and cannot move until Turn 4.

- The army is in a defensive posture and cannot move North of the river

The Set Up

Once again the game was played on a 3' x 2' table, with deployments etc seen below:

An overview of the table. Blue is to the left of the river, Red to the right and the top.

One Blue Brigade defending the bridge, saddled with a Dithering commander, requiring the General to be in attendance.

Another Blue Brigade defending the ford.

The Blue Mixed Brigade in reserve.

The Red Cavalry Brigade, ready to act to pin some Blue units in place, just by their presence.

A Red Brigade ready to contest the ford.

The Red Light Brigade ready to move through the woods and into the Blue flank, with a Dashing commander to aid speedy progress.

A Red Brigade ready to advance into Blue's rear area, saddled with a Dithering commander.

The Game

As always, the captioned photos should give an idea of hos the game played out:

The end of Turn 1. Red made an Admirable move to the river, allowing them to deploy, as well as gaining the fire intiative. This saw Blue lose a Line Infantry unit, which had to fall back to reform. Both sides took further hits but to limited effect.

Blue already pushed back from the ford.

The end of Turn 2. As the Red Cavalry moved to the flank to try and get out of artillery range, both sides exchanged some devastating fire, each losing a Line Infantry unit. The ford was in danger of being lost by Blue already.

Blues' Line Infantry that had just moved forward is routed, leading to the Artillery unit having to limber up and retire to try to reform.

But Red had also suffered an early loss, but was in a better position than Blue by the ford.

The end of Turn 3. As Blue began to pull back from the ford to try and form a defensive line, the Red force suddenly appeared on their left flank, with devastating consequences. The Blue right flank began to try and react to this sudden appearance by Red, but the Dithering commander was not quite sure what to do.

The Blue Dithering commander begins to try and move to meet the threat on his left.

The Red Line Infantry appear from the corn.

The Red Light Infantry move with ease through the woods...

... and pour a devastating volley into the Blue Line Infantry, routing them.

The lone Blue Artillery unit still pulling back to try and reform.

The end of Turn 4. The Red force from the West continue to push aggressively forward, forcing a Blue Line Infantry unit back to reform. The Red force North of the river forms into line to prepare to begin to cross, but the Cavalry fail to move.

The Blue right flank slowly forms into line and column to move towards Red.

The Mixed Brigade spurs into action.

The remnants of the Blue left flank.

The Red force North of the river ready to cross the ford.

A view from the West and the Red force threatening Blue's rear.

The end of Turn 5. The Blue right flank meets up with the few reamining left flank units, but the Mixed Brigade fails to move up in support. Red tries to push forward, which the Light Brigade do rather aggressively, whilst those North of the river struggle forward. Both sides have one of those 'barn door' phases on the shooting front.

Red pushes forward as the Blue line begins to coalesce.

The end of Turn 6. As the Blue defensive crust begins to harden, Red continues to push forward, but once again the 'barn door' issue raises its head!

The Red force North of the river tries to move forward to attack the Blue line in the flank.

The Blue 'defensive crust'.

The Mixed Brigade moves forward but is still too far behind.

The Red Western force struggles to find space to deploy as the Light Brigade engages Blue in the centre.

The end of Turn 7. With a rush of blood to the head, the Light Brigade commander charges forward with his troops into the Blue Artillery and Line Infantry, as both sides close up as best they can. In one of those 'MAD' moments, the Red Light Brigade is destroyed, but so are the Blue Artillery and Line Infantry! Yet again ineffective and desultory fire ripples across the front.

The charge and its effect...

... and the aftermath after the smoke has cleared.

The end of Turn 8. There is little movement from Blue due to holding a good defensive position, so Red pushes forward, but come under devastating fire (at last!), losing two Line Infantry units. In response all Red can manage is to rout an Artillery unit and force the Mixed Brigade Light Infantry to move back to reform. 

Losses on the right...

... and on the left.

The Red Cavalry Brigade finally begin to cross the bridge.

End of the Game

And with that the game was over after an exciting and eventful 8 Turns. Technically a Red victory as per the original scenario, given the Blue had no units close enough to either crossing of the river. However looking at the state of play, Red would struggle to prosecute the attack, with Blue working on interior lines. What might have swung it decisively for either side would have been a cavalry clash, with the winner certainly help gain control of the Field of Mars.

The Butcher's Bill was pretty even:

Red: 3 x Line Infantry, 2 x Light Infantry

Blue: 3 x Line Infantry, 2 x Artillery

Post Game Thoughts

Another excellent game of Honours of War, and certainly one with fortunes swinging one way and then the other! A few musings as always:

• Red got off to a flier on the shooting front, only for this good luck to tail off, with Blue getting that final effective volley in Turn 8 almost on the last dice throws.
• The Red Light Brigade's charge was certainly risky, some might say foolish, but I thought it was worth the gamble, which sort of paid off, but at terrible cost.
• The scenario was certainly interesting and another good challenge and in a sense nicely followed on from the previous one. I think it needs a tweak or two to make it work better, but maybe that's for another day.
• Having 'Dithering' commanders was fun again, but tied up both commanding Generals for most of the game. That random roll for all commanders at the start does add a wonderful level of friction and unpredictability, perfect for the solo gamer.
• When the game moved to the short table edge as it were, both sides really struggled to find room to manouevre, which caused a few problems and moved the game to one more of attrition, with no real chance to turn a flank etc.
• Both sides Artillery were less effective with this much more mobile battle, due to having to move so much. 
• My rivers are really too wide for these rules, but luckily I have some new ones in progress, which will make for a better game IMHO.

What Next?

Well I think that's it for Honours of War for a while. With the weather being much more conducive to painting and gaming, I hope to get more of the former in so that I can resume my 'French-Canadians in Normandy' mini-campaign. Life is busy on the 'real life' front, so it might be a few days before I can get things set up, but with SWMBO away for the weekend, I aim to get the next game in...

As always, thanks for reading and commentating, plus of course any comments greatly appreciated!

TTFN.