Wargaming 'Risorgimento'

Well things have been somewhat quiet on the painting and gaming front here, owing to us in part having had the hottest June on record. We knew it had been warm and frankly like being on holiday in the Med for much of the time, which was rather nice to be honest, but a record breaker came as a bit of a surprise! So much of my time was spend gardening and keeping stuff alive and it was simply too hot to paint, assuming you could get if from the brush to the figure before it dried. 

However Blogging kept me in the loop so to speak which as ever is a big bonus, especially for those in my position. One of the joys is seeing what other Bloggers are up to and earlier in June, one such post sent me down an unexpected but rather enjoyable rabbit hole.

Italian Risorgimento

The Italian Risorgimento was briefly covered at school and college, with the focus always seeming to be on Garibaldi and his efforts to establish his global biscuit enterprise gain Italian independence. With my ongoing interest in the 1848 - 1871 period, I was happy to read Bob Cordery's post on a new book on the subject, but one that covers the Armies that fought throughout the wars for independence. An order was soon placed and despite it coming from Poland, it took two weeks to arrive!

But the wait was worth it as this is simply a wonderful book! If you read Bob's post above, you will see that in the comments loads of lovely 'what if's?' have been mooted, which has certainly caused the butterfly to flap rather frantically here. Luckily pretty much all the figures I currently have for my ImagiNations Armies will work really well for many of the units shown.

On the ImagiNations front, it did occur to me that they always seem, by and large, to be set in 'Germany' rather than anywhere else. Of course 'France' and the 'Low Countries' make the odd cameo, but somehow never 'Italy'. There is lots to offer here for the gamer and my little grey cells have been mulling things over for sure. But more on this another time.

Terrain for India and Far East

The above book did help kick start some gaming related activity, namely getting back to sorting things out for our planned 18thC India game at the Cotswold wargames Day in October. Now many of you will now I love scratch building stuff, sadly at the expense of actually painting figures, but it is something that is easy to fit in around parent/carer duties. 

The buildings contained herein look a bit dated now but there is plenty in there to inspire one, even in today's 3D dominated market. The Afghan hill fort is something I plan on making, or at least inspired by.

My paddy fields ready for paint, which is progressing nicely since this photo was taken.

A quick trial to make my doormat wheat fields look, well, more like wheat! Simply some coloured flock (looks like saw dust that has been dyed) glued to the top with pva glue. The sample worked well and now I have to figure out how to scale it up to make it easier to do my larger fields. A nice challenge for sure.

I have plans for some other bits'n'bobs for the table, many of which have been inspired by David of Tales From GHQ fame. He really does put on a good game, with lots of lovely little details and vignettes to delight the eye. If you've never visited his Blog, I highly recommend you do. I've found a 10mm tiger already and hope to scratch build some other things too, time permitting.

The Pile Of Shame

Well not quite but a real mix of stuff that I've brought down for priming so that I can paint them as and when the Muse is upon me. Lots of 'planes and AFV's which I've bought over the years, with the former rarely getting used in games but just lovely to have. Maybe it's the memory of making kits that makes we want to buy them?

What's Next?

Well the weather has finally turned and at last we have some much needed rain and cooler weather, which means I am at last returning to sorting out my figures etc. I'm trying to maintain my 18thC focus as even though the show is 4 months away, I know the time will fly by and I'll be left rushing at the end. I saw a Little Wars TV episode on painting 10mm figures a day or so ago, which I'm going to give a try to see if it helps speed things up for me. Time will tell. At least I will have plenty of free evenings now that Wimbledon has started, which means less Netflix watching which is all too easy to do.

There might be another FtF game at Chris Gregg's towards the end of the month, subject to SWMBO being OK after some dental work. As always I have plenty of ideas but just lack the mojo to actually put a game on. After all it's a hobby so I'm not sweating about it and it's time will come for sure.

TTFN.

The Battle of Landshut 1809

About a month ago I travelled to Chris Gregg's for a game, this time to help playtest some Napoleonic rules he has been developing with his friends, based upon Keith Flint's excellent Honours of War. Being a tad green behind the ears for this 'period', I was quite happy to be given command of the Austrian forces who were still somewhat 'linear warfare' in their approach. The game had the added bonus of being set during the 1809 Danube Campaign, which you now know is the focus of my tentative foray into Napoleonics. This game certainly helped tip the balance for sure. Richard would be my Bavarian opponent which was nice, as he is an excellent sport and we always have a good game. Chris did have to rein in my propensity to chat and waffle during the game, but in my defence I don't get out much!

Both sides had their own orders, victory conditions etc, which added a lovely Fog of War to the proceedings. Chris as is often the case was the umpire and rules arbiter and kept things moving along at a good and steady pace. But more on that later.

I took photos during the game at various points when I remembered, when we had a natural break or something memorable happened, of which there were many of the latter. I will try and give an idea of how things panned out via the captions and some thoughts at the end, so without further ado.

An overview of the battlefield, as viewed from the Austrian positions. The main objective was to have control of the BUA as seen top left.

Bavarian troops cross the bridge. I think the buildings were 3D printed? They looked rather good to say the least.

The church on the edge of the town, defended by artillery that was to be a constant thorn in the Austrian left flank. No other troops are visible yet.

The Austrian left flank ready to advance.

The Bavarians wait on the hill.

A view down the table with Chris checking something or other.

The Austrians push forward.

The left flank closes in on the churchyard, after the Light Infantry have already been repulsed.

The Austrian right flank struggled to get going by having an iffy commander, forcing the C-in-C to help him out as it were. The Austrian artillery is limited to the road and is slow to move up in support. The Bavarians have a rather effective gun line on the hill.

Fighting rages in and around the churchyard.

Bavarians move up in support.

A very nice mountain river/stream that neatly delineated where the river was impassable.

The Austrians have been repulsed and an infantry unit is broken.

Austrian Grenzers force the Bavarian artillery to limber up, but are then caught by the Grenzers and destroyed. This happened twice during the game!

A good old fashioned cavalry charge!

The Austrians are forced to retreat...

... and so are the Bavarians (top of picture).

The Austrians still push forward. I loved the Bavarian limbers that seemed more like something you would see in a Jane Austen film!

As the Austrian artillery finally can leave the road, the Bavarians are slowly withdrawing towards the BUA (I think!).

Arch Duke Charles arrives with his BIG guns.

The Austrian right wing, somewhat strung out, is doing all the heavy lifting, as the left cannot get close to the church and BUA.

A confused picture, with both sides light troops attacking the artillery, with the Austrian Grenzers being charged in the flank by Bavarian cavalry.

Suddenly Austrian light infantry appear on the Bavarian left flank, but still far away from the action (a scenario option).

As the Bavarians charge into the Grenzers, which are routed, they then carry on into the Austrian Line Infantry ...

... who don't have time to form square and are destroyed.

A case of cavalry MAD destruction I think...?

End of the Game

So after some 6 hours of playing time, we reached the end of the road, with both sides having achieved their objectives IIRC, effectively an honourable draw. The Bavarians were slowly withdrawing and the Austrians didn't have the strength to pursue them, especially as they were out of cavalry by this point.

Post Game Thoughts

Well what a wonderful days gaming! I'll try and sum things up as follows:

• Chris came up with a really, really good scenario, with neither side knowing the others objectives. It is rare to have an umpired game like this but it really does bring a lot to the table. So thanks to Chris for all his hard work.
• Richard was as ever an excellent opponent and we had lots of fun with the usual badinage going too and from across the table, which is one of the joys of FtF gaming.
• The rules worked well and I think there was only one query during the game, which Chris and friends are going to consider. Certainly everything flowed smoothly and nothing felt 'wrong'.
• The 15mm-18mm figures were lovely and there was loads of space to manouevre the armies, which really added to the joy of the game.
• Initially by around Turn 3 I thought it was all over for the Austrians, but how wrong could I be. They got back into the game and after that the front lines ebbed and flowed nicely, with some memorable moments throughout.
• The heroes for the Austrians were with out a doubt the Grenzers who KO'd two Bavarian batteries and certainly punched above their weight.
• The terrain really limited the Austrian ability to bring their guns into play, hampered as well but the initial Bavarian numerical superiority in artillery. I'm certainly looking forward to reading about the actual battle in Gill.

So there we have it. Chris is putting on another game in July and as yet I'm not sure if I can make it as it's too far in advance for me to plan. Fingers crossed I can attend, but we shall see.

I increased the pixel size of these photos so I'd be interested to hear whether this improved the images you can see and if it affected loading time at all. For years I've gone with 800 x 600 ones, but this time went with 2,400 x 1,800. I'd not noticed but Chris pointed out that my images do appear rather pixelated when he views them, so any feedback appreciated.

In Other News

The garden is now pretty much sorted, which frankly is a bit of a relief! Now it is really a case of feeding, watering and dead heading to keep things in tip-top condition. this means that my mind is certainly moving very much back to gaming mode. I'm taking a few days break from things to re-charge the batteries and then it's onto 18thC India. I'm sure my finger will be fine but certainly not fully functional just yet. At least it will initially be basing so not too tricky, famous last words!

TTFN.

Rain Stops Play

The Weather

Well things have been a bit quiet here on the gaming front for several reasons, but mainly down to the simply wonderful weather we have been having these past few weeks. After a distinctly cold and wet Spring, suddenly we have been thrust into early Summer like weather, as can be seen in the photo below.

Normally we have fairly mild Winters and Spring here in Bristol, but not this year, so the normal gardening calendar has been somewhat disrupted. So what I would achieved by now on the gardening front is suddenly having to be compressed, which is taking pretty much all of my time and effort these past few weeks. Not that I'm complaining as it's wonderful weather, but it does stop me doing much else. Still much better than wind and rain!

Napoleonics

As mentioned previously, I've pretty much plumped for the 1809 period, or thereabouts, for my games. The FRW period is still lurking in the background, but currently my focus is on the Danube Campaign. To this end I bought the 2nd and 3rd volumes of Gill's wonderful history of the campaign.

I'm currently re-reading the 1st volume and I'm picking up much more info this time round. This reminds me of what we were taught at college when reading chapters, that you should do it in 3 goes; firstly skim it get a basic overview, then a quick read through and finally a proper read through. Sadly time does not permit this approach, but it really does pay dividends as currently I know what's coming.

MDF vs Metal

I'm still torn between MDF and metal for the 1809 project. Whilst 10mm metal has lots of attractions, I'm leaning towards the MDF route, possibly augmented by some 6mm figures for say skirmishers to add a bit more dynamism to those bases. Still early days of course as as you will see, I have another project that needs my attention.

Partizan & Blog Inspiration

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but having seen all the wonderful Blog reports on this years Partizan show, I really wish I had attended. Well at least those kind enough to have put up plenty of eye candy photos have allowed me to vicariously enjoy it.

Given my dearth of gaming or painting of late, Blogs have once again provided me with plenty of ideas, inspiration and simple enjoyment. Whilst maybe losing out to Facebook etc, it is a much better medium IMHO to share our wonderful hobby.

Tony Adams RIP

I was saddened and shocked to read about the sudden passing of Tony Adams, who was a frequent commentator on this Blog. His woodscrew armies were certainly niche but I found them absolutely wonderful and his obvious enthusiasm for them. His interests were varied and his book reviews often led to a purchase or two, which I will always be thankful for. The following tribute to him can say much more about Tony than I ever can:

https://manoftinblogtwo.wordpress.com/2023/05/25/rip-tony-adams-of-the-miniature-woodscrew-army/ 

His passing away has made me ponder my lead mountain, my collections, books etc and what I really want from the hobby. Certainly his love of my MDF armies has helped me focus my mind on this front and in a sense will be a tribute to him in one way or another. 

The Finger

I'm glad to report that my finger has healed really well, but probably still has a week to go before I feel comfortable using it for painting and modelling. Despite my one handed gardening and love of being outside, I'm certainly hankering after getting the toys out and based, painted etc, weather dependent of course!

What's Next?

Having had Napoleonics and WWII stuff sat on the dining table for nearly a month now, I finally tidied it all away to allow me to try and re-focus me time and energy into the 18thC India project for the Cotswold Wargames Day in the Autumn. I have lots of basing to do first and foremost, so that I can make sure the force is more or less complete, before moving onto the priming and painting. I find that if I don't do this, it's very hard to keep on track, which is a challenge at the best of times.

Having played H&M games for months now, it is time for a complete change. As always I have loads of ideas and plans, but want and need something that is pretty much ready to go on in terms of painted miniatures etc. In the end it was an easy choice for me to plump for some more AVBCW action, which hasn't had a run out for quite some time now. Ideally I'd like to play this as some sort of campaign, as it's much more fun and generates a nice stroy line, or so I feel. Again I'm not short of ideas but now need to look through my scribbled notes to see what thoughts I'd had previously.

TTFN.

Single Digit Disruption

A few days ago, whilst taking part in the Red Bull Solo Extreme Garden Pruning Competition, a momentary lapse in concentration caused by Lewis Hamilton closing in on my lead, led to my early retirement from said event due to my cutting the tip of my finger off. Now having been a First Aider at work, I didn't panic, despite quite a bit of blood and having to find the bit of skin the had been cleanly removed by my secateurs (top tip: sharp tools make clean cuts that heal better), I made my way home (three doors away) from the event. Despite thorough cleaning and two goes at primary healing, by the third go (which 'stuck') it was obvious I needed to get this properly dressed so it was off to the local urgent treatment centre. A three hour wait later and I was seen, with the nurse rather impressed with my efforts (10/10), which was good. A wash with iodine and a good dressing and I was off home.

Luckily it didn't really hurt despite cutting through the nerve tips, nor did it become infected, but it was a tad sore and all in all very inconvenient, especially as the weather had warmed up enough to enjoy cycling again, as well as a desire to get back to the mid-18thC India project. These along with gardening are on hold whilst my finger heals (dressing comes off tomorrow) which is frustrating as I'm the sort of chap who likes to be doing things! So what to do?

The offending digit all dressed, but being left handed, the next worse finger to injure after the index one.

Luckily for me I had been playing some simple games of the excellent Shadow of the Eagles rules, to get to grips with them again, whilst I pondered what period or campaign to base a possible future force around.

A nice and simple game, with some real to and fro action as both sides contested a river crossing. 

I had been 'chatting' via e-mail with Norm Smith as to whether to go the Peninsular War route, the Revolutionary Wars one (my plan from several years ago) or something else. Norm wisely recommend the 1809 Danube Campaign and the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Having already read John H Gill's first book in his 'Thunder on the Danube' trilogy, which I greatly enjoyed, I quickly ordered the other two which should arrive soon.

So with my 'period' broadly set, I'm still unsure as to go down the MDF route and my 'Old School' look or the Pendraken 10mm route, as they have a rather nice range for this campaign. Still early days yet and plenty of stuff in the queue that needs attention, such as the aforementioned India force. Then of course there is the small matter of making sure my finger is fully healed before I can wield scalpel and paint brush! In the meantime I plan to run some more small games, set around French vs Austrians, to get a feel of things. One game is sketched out and I hope to kick things off in the next few days, as long as I don't injure myself again...

TTFN.

Napoleonics

Whilst my gaming and painting mojo has been severely lacking of late, at least I have still been enjoying the hobby by reading books, which I have always loved. With rather poor weather to put it mildly for the past two months, I have been racking up the pages read each day. Come the afternoon however,  I like to spend an hour or so watching tv as a bit of 'me time' before SWMBO returns from work. Nothing in particular and much depends upon what takes my fancy that day.

So a few days ago I was watching Youtube (hedonist I know!) and browsing through the Little Wars TV and alighted upon a few of their Napoleonic episodes, which piqued my interest. This coincided with a few fellow Bloggers putting up some Nappies posts, so I dug out a few books to browse and my interest in this period was re-kindled. Rather nice to have a bit of a 'spark' again after a rather fallow spell.

Now the only downside of Nappies from my perspective, aside from which rules to use, the column vs line debates, the uniform police etc, is really which Armies to go and which campaign? In contrast the Seven Years War is so easy in comparison. The LWTV chaps have a nice little piece on starting out which I found rather helpful as a guide, but it got me no further forward, but 'tis early days still. 

So whilst pondering whether to go for 1813-1815 Prussians (lots of interesting uniforms and troops types) or the Peninsula War (somewhat done to death this side of the pond but again lots of choice) I decided to actually get my butt in gear in play a game whilst this played out in my subconscious. I chose  a simple scenario that Norm Smith had put together to kick things off to get me back into the swing of things with Shadow of the Eagles, the excellent rules from my good friend Keith Flint. The game was set up last night and in a quiet moment this morning I actually got to roll some dice, which was great!

The Prussians are defending a small village with the French preparing to attack.

The Prussians line the edge of the village, which should prove to be a good defensive position.

Artillery cover the road and troops line the hedges.

The French come on in Column of Attack with a skirmish screen out in front.

The Skirmish Screen closes.

Firing erupts across the front.

Things are fairly equal on the right flank.

The same on the left flank.

Things quickly change and the French begin to suffer.

The French continue to suffer from Prussian firing, but dish out some punishment back.

A French unit routs and the commander is killed in the process.

The French right is on a parlous state, due to some excellent Prussian musketry.

It's all up for the French as...

...another unit Routs.

The Prussians pulled back from the hedge to help recover some hits and to avoid French fire.

Post Game Thoughts

It was great to get a quick little game in to get to grips with the rules and the period again after so long. All-in-all it probably took less than an hour to play. A few thoughts on the game:

• This is a perfect little tester scenario that Norm has created, with not too many nor types of unit, which speeded things up.
• I thing the new skirmish rules are a big improvement on what is in the book. I want to try a Light Battalion in the next game to see how they play compared to Skirmish Screens. The only thing I wasn't sure about was when shooting at the Skirmish Screen, whether those hits count towards the unit as a whole. I re-reading of the book will probably provide the answer I need.
• The BUA proved to help the defenders due to the -1 to hit, which certainly helped. 
• Both sides had above average shooting, with the Prussians edging it allowing them to get the upper hand. Even the Inferior Landwehr got the better of the French!
• Both sides made good use of Morale Saves to reduce hits, with honours pretty even.

What next? Well a few more games to get the basics sorted is the plan, alongside adding in a few more unit types and maybe an all Cavalry action to try charges etc. Then of course there is the question of do I add to the lead mountain with two new forces or just carry on with my MDF figures? Certainly the latter for the moment given my other projects, but I can see some purchases in the future, once I can decide upon a campaign and force to fight the French.

Blogger Issues

For some reason unkown to Man, Blogger has been doing some weird things of late. Specifically random replies to my posts appearing in my Spam folder, whether from myself or not, years after they have been 'posted'. Today was the best yet in a comment from myself counting as Spam and from 6 years ago! I kid you not.

So apologies to those of you have have been kind enough to reply in the past and maybe have been a tad miffed that I did not comment on your replies. I most certainly would have but Blogger in its infinite wisdom decided not to publish, until some random date and time way after the event.

Another issue that is new to me is that some of my comments on other Blogs are going straight to the Spam folder. I know I have this issue with a few regular Followers on my Blog, despite repeated efforts to say they are not Spam, but it's a first for me as far as I know. So given this is not isolated to myself and my Blog, maybe it is worth checking your Spam folder under the Comments section?

Warning Order #62

The latest issue of the ever excellent Warning Order magazine is now available for downloading. I always enjoy perusing what Matt has to say and being of a similar age, sometimes it is quite a trip down memory lane. 

Last issue Matt asked for some feedback on playing BKCIV games and how others go about it. I contacted him and gave him my thoughts and how I approach things etc. Fortunately for me he found this interesting and useful and, as a result, published it in this edition!

Right, off to have more of a gander on what else is in this issue.

Fall Rot - France 1940

Progress on my France 1940 campaign has come to a halt of late, due to focussing on the planned HEIC game for the CWD. Sadly I can't multi-task! However all is not lost on this front as I recently received a nice Amazon voucher as a 'thankyou' for the volunteer work I do and after som epondering of what to buy, remembered the following book:

I really enjoyed his 'Case White' book on the Polish campaign and after reading the contents and reviews of 'Case Red', was happy to see that it covered (naturally) the post Dunkirk phase of the campaign, but also other parts that are not often covered. I place the order and within a few days I received my copy and have been reading it ever since!

Some Thoughts

In short if you are interested in the French campaign, you really should buy this book! I've learnt an awful lot already and still have not finished. A few points that I think are interesting:

• It covers the inter-war period of all sides involved in the campaign, which provides a really good background for what follows.
• Whilst not in much detail, it does cover what happened in Holland and Belgium, with the latter getting more pages. It does highlight that the Belgium 'collapse' really did unhinge the French and British positions, maybe more so than the breakthrough at Sedan.
• This is the only book I've read so far that does explain in great detail what happened to the French Airforce and why they had a limited effect upon the campaign.
• Logistics for all sides are shown to have had a big impact on how the campaign was conducted, especially before Fall Rot kicked off. Again not something that gets the coverage it deserves.
• The French are given more credit than they normally receive, but it does not shy away from highlighting their deficencies in C&C. Whilst they had good troops, tanks etc and on the face of it a good strategy, their ability to actually implement this was severely hampered by logistical issues. I certainly have a great appreciation of the French efforts now that before.

BKCII French Force

I've had a core French force based up for BKCII for more years than I care to remember! Now I want to resurrect this 'project' and need to dig out the box and see exactly what I have and what I might need to add to. The following GHQ models page has some really useful info that is easy to convert to OOB for BKCII. When I get round to this I've no idea given current commitments for the CWD and the start of the French campaign I've got planned. However I do know I will probably require at least a Company of infantry and some tanks, so hopefully something will appear off the painting table in due course.

Kos & Leros 1943

At the same time I bought the Osprey book on this little invasion as it's something I want to game in the next year or two, but like so many things, so many ideas, so little time!

So until next time, TTFN.

It Was Just My ImagiNations (Running Away With Me)

As mentioned previously, I have been tempted down the path of some forces for use in 18thC India, pitting the HEIC against the French and various local rulers etc. It certainly is a fascinating period to game, although many of the battles can hardly be called that until towards the end of the 1790's. Still plenty on offer for modest games, which suits me down to the ground.

CWD & India 18thC

With the above in mind, I popped a mail to Dave mooting the possibility of doing 'something' set in India for the Cotswold wargames Day and using Honours of War for the rules. Dave was on board from the off and since then we have been toying with ideas for forces, tweaks to the rules etc. It has certainly been lots of fun and has taken up most of my gaming time of late, so I thought I'd give a bit of an update of the state of play as it stands.

HEIC OOB c1750's

My force will nominally be based upon the HEIC and their local Allies, which currently equates to:

2 x British Line infantry (Superior)

2 x HEIC Troops (Standard)

4 x HEIC Sepoys (Standard)

4 x Irregular Light Infantry (Inferior)

4 x Irregular Light Cavalry (Inferior)

3 x Artillery (Standard)

2 x Allied Artillery (Inferior)

2 x Zumbarak (Inferior Artillery)

This is all very much a work in progress at present, with some playtesting required to make sure things work out as planned. So the below image is off most of the core force, bar some elephants, camels and heavy artillery. I want to make sure I have everything based and finished before I start painting. I still have a few more units to go, but at least I have everything to hand that I need, famous last words!

That's a lot of miniatures to paint, but will help focus my efforts.

ImagiNations in General

Over the past few years, I have really embraced the whole concept of ImagiNations for a multitude of reasons. I love the ability to create some background 'fluff' for your force, but anchored in a plausible historical context. Then of course there is the fun of getting together figures that you like to create your force, as well as naming them, uniforms colours and flags etc. It would be remiss of me not to admit the attraction of less units to buy, paint and store, with say a core 18thC force being able to fight in America, Europe and India.

So whilst working my way through the HEIC force, I thought that the figures I'm using for the Allies, which are Pendraken 16thC Ottomans, could very easily with a few additions make a nice little force for some games set in Europe. This is something for the future but has certainly make me ponder on what else I might need to flesh them out so to speak.

Russia in the ACW

When I have my evening meal I like to listen to the radio and certainly Radio 4 has some great programmes on from 4.00pm onwards. Whilst listening to one of those, they mentioned a Russian 'colony' in northern California, namely Fort Ross and they briefly said that what might have happened if it hadn't been sold before the 1849 gold rush? This immediately pricked my ears up and I thought what a great setting for some 'what if?' games leading up to and during the ACW. Naturally this led to possible British involvement from Canada and possible German intervention based upon say and independent colony like Fort Ross. 

From such small acorns do mighty oaks grow and all that, so I've parked this for the moment to come back to in the future, but I can see plenty of opportunities here. Such is the attraction of ImagiNations!