Try Before You Buy & Other Stuff

A while since my last post and things have been ticking along in the background, so I thought I'd do a bit of an update.

Try Before You Buy

Many years ago I made a load of mdf blocks so that I could try out rules and periods before comiiting my hard earned shekels to toy soldiers. It's been a long time since I used them and frankly kept forgetting that I had them. But recently I almost literally stumbled across them whilst having a bit of a sort out.

Thos coincided with some good posts on Chariot Wars from OB at the excellent You Do Not Know The North Blog that piqued my interest, alongside Jon Freitag's games in the past. So having the tools to hand as it were, I dug out my copy of Hail Caesar II and set up some simple games to get a handle on the rules.

My 2' x 2' board set up to have a bit of a play.

Some essential reading material.

It was fun getting the blocks out and running through the rules, that felt pretty comfortable given the core engine they share with Black Powder II et al. Still an awful lot to learn, but that's half the fun isn't it? In the end I wisely tidied these away as I was getting far too distracted when I had plenty of other projects that needed my attention.

Games Room Decor

I have previously touched upon wanting to add a few things to decorate the games room and whilst on a recent visit to my Dad, he let me take back a 25 pdr shell casing as a start. He is pretty sure it's a practice round as it is a lot shorter than the other two full sized casing he have and doesn't have the taper at the neck either. He has a couple of 2 pdr casings too that used to adorn the mantle piece, but we couldn't find them. The all came from a firing range in South Wales that a maternal Great Uncle 'liberated' many moons ago and they've always been in the family as long as I can remember. I'm undecided at to whether to polish it up or not, something I remember my late Mum doing religiously every month with Brasso and newspaper on the floor.

It is 11 1/2" high by 3 1/2" in diameter.

There are loads of markings on the base, including '1941' at about 4 o'clock as you look at it. 

Books

Again whilst on the visit, I took my regular trip to the local second hand bookshop in Downham Market, which is a little treasure trove and with very friendly staff. I managed to pick up the following for a few quid and ticks the boxes for the Glorious Revolution, a big interest of mine now, plus I can't resist anything by David Chandler!

An excellent title by the look of it and all proceeds go the the West Norfolk Deaf Association.

I also have just finished reading Cozzen's superb book on the 1862 Shenandoah Campaign, which not only is a gripping read, but to me exploded much of the myth surrounding Jackson. A must read for anyone interested in this campaign IMHO.

Terrain

With the Cotswold Wargames Day in about a month's time, I've been working on some more fencing, which you kind of need for an ACW setting. This doubles the maount of snake rail fencing I have, which should be enough given the walls and other fences I have. Simply made from matchsticks and wooden tongue depressors for the bases.

Painting

With the schools back, Autumnal weather here and the looming deadline of the CWD, I'm slowly getting back into painting figures. To ease myself in I finished off some Light Infantry figures from Commission Figurines. Nothing fancy but a good way to get the hands and eyes back in. Having been away from the painting table, I realised that I doubt I could paint true 6mm figures now to a level I would be happy with. So aside from these figures, it's 10mm for me, famous last words!

Colours Wargames Show

As I've said many a time, the Colours show I see as the start of the wargaming season for me and this Saturday will see me off there for a visit, meeting up with my good friend Keith Flint. Sadly the show has declined in quality in recent years, but there seems to be quite a few good games on show. I know it will never compare to Partizan, that is the pinnacle of the hobby for me, but it is just over an hours drive away and I get to meet up with friends in a very nice setting. At least it won't be as hot as last year! Unfortunately Anita's Books are not there, which is a shame, as I always find something on their stand I want at a very good price. I have a small order to pick up from Pendraken, but I'm sure some things might pique my interest, aside from books of course! A report will follow in due course.

FtF Gaming
I will be seeing Keith again on Monday as he is coming over for a test game of his Startline rules he is developing, which will be fun. I've only played Poland '39 so far with these, so it's a chance for Keith to try a game in 10mm and late War, with a real mix of kit in the Normandy Bocage. The OOB will not be accurate, but set up to try a mix of kit and troops so Keith can see how the rules work in a 1944 setting. Again some photos to follow I'm sure.

So thanks as always for popping by for a read and it would be lovely for you to leave a comment or two!

TTFN.

The Battle of Abensberg 1809

Yesterday I took a trip to Chris Gregg's house to take part in day two of his Abensberg re-fight from the 1809 Danube campaign. As always Chris had done an excellent job in providing a detailed map, back ground info, victory conditions etc for both sides, plus of course his excellent terrain. Once again I was on the Austrian side so knowing how the battle went historically, I was a bit apprehensive to see the state of play when I arrived.

The Austrian right wing under Thierry had been roughly handled by Lanne's Corp, but was still holding on, knowing that Hiller's Corp was on its way to provide much needed support. In the centre the Austrians were doing well, holding a hill that dominated the terrain, but there were still lots of Franco-Bavarians yet to arrive. On the left flank it was all rather quiet.

I took on the role of Thierry and knowing that in all likelihood it wouldn't last long, was given Hofmeister's Division too. I took a fair few photos, but it will only give some sense of what transpired, as there was an awful lot going on right across the table. Enjoy!

A view from the Austrian right flank. Thierry's command is on the hill (middle right) and Hofmeister's force is coming on by the woods (middle left). Sallingberg village is located in the middle just above the woods and Bachl is off table to the right from where Lanne's corps was arriving.

The dominating hill.

All rather quiet on the left flank.

Some of the many 3D printed houses that Chris had painted up.

A small Bavarian force in Sallingberg.

Lanne's Corps begins to move towards Bachl. Lots of nice wall decorations too.

Thierry's command has been destroyed and he himself captured! The French are arriving in force. Hofmeister's command moves through the woods to cover the road.

French: thousands of them!

Hofmeister's Division.

Rather splendid troops cross the bridge.

Hiller's corp begins to arrive.

Massed French battery's.

Lots of great troops and command stands on show.

The French pour through the woods as Hofmeister does his best to form a defensive line.

The French bring up their horse artillery.

Hofmeister waits and has yet to deploy his guns.

Some Austrian light infantry face French Cuirassiers!

Hiller's Corps begins to form line.

An overview of the table towards the end of the game. The Austrian left flank is under pressure, but the centre and left are doing OK.

There was a lot of fighting in the woods, with both sides taking casualties and losing troops.

A view from the French side.

Looking from the French centre towards the Austrian right.

The French ready for the attack.

A massed cavalry action that didn't end well for the Austrians, but they had delayed the French, which was their aim.

Hofmeister's flank is under threat after the French cavalry victory (top of photo).

Hiller's Corps move to shore up the Austrian left.

End of the Game

With time rapidly running out, we ended the game late afternoon and after looking at the victory conditions, the Austrians had managed to achieve a minor victory. Huzzah!

Post Game Thoughts

So a few observations on the day in no particular order:

• Covid and real life issues meant that a few players were unable to make it, which required some juggling of commands. I think this impacted the Franco-Bavarian force more as on the Saturday, they were only able to complete 4 Turns, whilst on the Sunday we managed 6. At the end of the game we all agreed that with a Turn or two more, Lanne's Corps would probably have turned the Austrian right flank.
• Another impact was that some of the players had not played the rules before (Chris' variant of Honours of War) which slowed play down, again impacting the Franco-Bavarians.
• As always the game was played with plenty of humour and in the right spirit, making for a very enjoyable experience. Thanks to Chris, Glenn, Stuart, Martin and Paul for a great game!
• The terrain certainly favoured the Austrians and in our pre-game planning, we made the most of this and it certainly helped out cause. During the game we oft talked about how hard it must have been for the Franco-Bavarians to move to the attack with limited avenues of advance.
• The lunchtime chat was good as always, with plenty of topics covered, some of which I might touch upon in another post. We all agreed that half the fun of wargaming is the social aspect, which was in much abundance on Sunday.

Well I hope you enjoyed that and, if so, a comment or two would be appreciated!

TTFN.

OHW Scenario 16: Advance Guard

Feeling rather pooped after a long drive back from North Norfolk and the weather rather iffy this morning, I decided to get in another OHW scenario game from Neil Thomas' book. The next one looked pretty easy to set up, with the objective essentially being to control a BUA, with both sides sending an advanced guard from their main force to do so. Force wise it was the same for both sides, with a brigade of mounted infantry with horse artillery and two brigades of infantry with foot artillery. Simples!

Both sides had to stick to the road until the BUA became occupied, which rather chimed in with my current reading of the Shenandoah Campaign of 1862, especially the battle of Kernstown where wet weather severely hampered movement off the turnpike. Then it was whoever was in control of the BUA at the end or in a better postion after 8 turns would be the winner. 

So without further ado...

An overview of the table with the BUA smack bang in the centre. Red arrive from the left, Blue the right.

A reasonable sized BUA, with all buildings by Leven Miniatures.

The Red mounted infantry on the road.

Likewise for Blue.

The end of Turn 1. Blue made a steady start but Red were quick off the mark and managed to get units into the town and their horse artillery deployed.

Red get the best start possible.

The end of Turn 2. Blue were spurred on by Red and they too occupied part of the town, whilst their infantry brigades began to arrive. The Red infantry could not emulate their mounted counterparts and were slow off the mark compared to Blue. Both sides had some shooting but to little effect due to being in the town.

The Blue infantry brigade move off to the left to try and flank the town.

Red can only stick to the road as they are too slow to do much else.

The Red horse artillery come under fire from their Blue counterparts.

The end of Turn 3. Blue's left flank deploys into line and pushes forward their light infantry as the other infantry brigade moves slowly forward. Red respond as best they can, pushing infantry brigades left and right. Once again the rattle of musketry can be heard but it has little effect.

The Blue left flank has deployed for action.

Red moves troops to their right flank in response.

The Red left flank advances but cannot yet deploy into line.

Ineffective shooting in the town continues.

The end of Turn 4. Both sides continue to contest the town whilst on the flanks the infantry move up and deploy as best they can. The shooting intensifies but does not have enough effect to tip the balance in favour of either side.

Blue infantry move off to their right flank.

The Blue infantry on the left flank move sideways to try and gain space for their artillery.

The Red light infantry on their right flank makes a disordered retreat to make space for fresh line infantry.

The infantry on Red's left flank push forward and cause the Blue mounted infantry in the white clapboard building some discomfort, but they manage to hold on due to being in a BUA.

The end of Turn 5. Both sides make tentative moves as the volume of fire increases, with units becoming shaken or disordered, sometimes both. Red manages to make some important rally rolls to keep some units safe for the meantime, but poor shooting and good morale saves are keeping things pretty even at present.

The Red right flank tries to move to bring numbers to bear.

The same on Red's left flank.

The Blue mounted infantry hang on for dear life!

The end of Turn 6. With both flanks now deployed in line, the intensity of the firefight increases, but neither side can gain fire ascendency at the moment. Yet again the town allows units to hand on combined with good morale saves.

The Red right flank extends its line to meet the threat from Blue.

The Blue mounted infantry simply refuse to be shifted from the clapboard farmhouse.

The end of Turn 7. As both sides try to manouevre to bring more guns to bear, the Red lose a light infantry units 'whipped', but Blue lost the horse artillery and the stubborn mounted infantry 'whipped' too.

Blue suddenly see two units retreat 'whipped'.

The Red right flank.

The Red left flank with the white clapboard farmhouse now vacant.

The unit of 'whipped' light infantry.

The Red horse artillery finally see of their opponents along the road.

The end of Turn 8. Blue quickly send in light infantry into the vacant farmhouse, but movement is limited otherwise. In the firefight Red finally gain the upper hand at the end, sending an infantry unit and mounted infantry unit back 'whipped'.

Blue see a line infantry unit 'whipped'.

Another Blue unit joins the 'Mr Whippy defensive line'.

The Blue right flank is under pressure too.

The Red right flank is under pressure too.

Red begin to gain control of the town.

A final view of the Red left flank.

End of the Game

At the end with both sides rather beaten and battered, Blue were in a worse position, having four units against one 'whipped', with importantly both units of mounted infantry and the horse artillery amongst them. So at the end a minor victory to Red, or at least that's how I saw it.

Post Game Thoughts

Well another nice game played out in about 2 hours and one that went down to the wire for once. Very different to the previous ones, but good for that as it allowed me to see how a decent BUA affected play or not. So as always some post game thoughts:

• I know it's been mentioned many a time, but BUA's in BPII are rather tough propositions for the Attacker, even with the tweaks from the GH! supplement. This game certainly proved that point! One Blue mounted infantry unit would have retreated two times before they finally did, due to simply being in a BUA. No toing and froing to tussle for control here, just a bloody and protracted slugging match.
• So going forward I think I will allow units to retreat from the BUA to give more momentum to the game and give sides a chance to take control back etc. Naturally this will need playtesting but I hope it will feel more 'right' for the sort of open BUA's that would feature in the sort of games I play.
• I'm glad I did make the BUA's bigger as if it had been just two bases either side of the road, Red would have had the upper hand from the off and with regards to the above, have been damned hard to shift. Not a fun prospect for a game I would venture.
• Neither sides shooting was good, with plenty of morale saves keeping units in the game. The Artillery of both sides was particularly poor, having little impact on the game.
• Red managed to make use of some crucial Rally rolls that helped keep control of part of the town and some units from being 'whipped'.
• I wasn't sure of how to class visibility in the BUA, so I just used that of woods, which seemed to work OK, as I thought dense woods would be too much.

What Next?

Well at the weekend I will be off to Chris Gregg's for the battle of Abensberg action, which should be fun as always, but a challenge for the Austrians. I will be playing on Day Two, so will have no idea of what position I might find my command in. Naturally a report will follow in due course.

Games wise I think a break from BPII is due and have some ideas for a BKCII game in its place. Alongside this I need to get back to the painting table to get my CWD forces ready in plenty of time. Then there is the small matter of finalising and playtesting the scenario.

So I hope you enjoyed the AAR and it would be lovely to receive a comment or two!

TTFN.