Napoleonics - Using Lasalle

I had a good game of Lasalle this week with the lads at Oldemeldrum - my French vs Alistair and Mike using the Russians.

We played on my snowy terrain cloth, a good old fashioned felt piece a terrain mat. It had been up int he loft since we played Mollwitz 3 years ago abut looked perfect.

The game kicked off over on my left with what can only be a described as a direct assault  by one of the Russian horse batteries. It rode up and unlimbered getting ready to sweep away my own smaller battery in a hail of canister. However due to the turn sequence it was my guns that fired first and forced the Russians to limber back up. Later that turn I sent my Lancers after it and they caught it before before it could react and destroyed it. 

Lancers ready to pounce as the guns fire into the Dragoons

The same unit of Lancers were then charged by then a big 6 base dragoon unit and lost the melee but it was inconsequential and they were driven back with few losses. I was soon able to recover their status and, after giving his cavalry several turns of artillery fire which saw the loss of the original Russian dragoon rgt, all three regiments of French Lancers attacked and drove back another unit of dragoons and a regiment of Cossacks.

On the right I lost an artillery battery on the first turn, knocked out by his heavy battery. My second battery was also forced to limber up and I took hits on my infantry. Not a good start. However I got my infantry moving in assault columns, covered them with a regiment in line to soak up some hits and started to cross the ground quite quickly. My remaining foot battery was soon in action again and kept a lively fire on his infantry. My troops were closing and as expected the leading line regiment was soon broken by the fire from the Russian guns. However the columns behind were effectively fresh and so attached the battery which was destroyed. 

French advancing to close on Russian right.

Back on the left Alistair infantry had at last reached the point when they could wheel onto the flank of my position,  although they were still too far to fire on my men. 

The threat to my left.

With my cavalry out of the way clearing the Russians, I was able to being my horse batteries to bear on this threat.

On the right I had 5 battalions, all of them fresh, converging on the Russians, plus my supporting battery. 

The French attack develops.

The Russian cavalry were worn and on the back foot. However there wasn't time to finish as it was now after 1030. A bloody nose for the Russians and some winter cheer for the French.

Russian gunners getting nervous and under fire as the as the French close on them

There were not many obstacles other than two woods, which freed things up and the slightly narrower table made for a quick engagement. It was a good game and it looked great on the snowy terrain too! 

That's probably it from me in terms of games til new year sadly! But I have almost finished painting and building up my Crimean War armies and will be basing them soon and I have some French Horse Artillery crew to paint too. I should have those done by the end of the year. 

Targe @ Kirriemuir

Yesterday I ran the Seige of Rome 1849 game at Targe in Kirriemuir with the folks from the Oldmeldrum club.

This is my local show and I always try to attend. It's suffered the last couple of years with a date clash with Crisis and a few of the traders who used to come have been absent. This seems to have had a knock on effect with numbers as visitors seem to be outnumbered by players from clubs running games. By early afternoon, things were getting pretty quiet and I think Targe needs a bit of a new spark to liven it up a bit. 4 games stood out, Leuchars Club with their Boshin war game, Falkirk's Pebble Island game and SPIT's Bay of Pigs and The Iron Brigade's Pacific Atoll game. All had excellent scenery and figures but I have to be honest and say that only 3 of these seemed actually to be demo games and not a static diorama.

In our game the French moved their trench closer and closer to the walls and despite taking casualties  the breach was reached and an assault was made by early afternoon. Mike T's pyrotechnic siege gun blasts looked great and the addition that and of the spent cannon balls drew many positive comments. Most visitors to the table were unfamiliar with the period or the campaign, with many confusing it with later battles. However it's obscurity was a good talking point and the feedback was it was good to see something different, and a siege game too. Thanks to the Meldrum lads for helping out.

Teaser

A few pics from the dry run of the demonstration game which I will be running on Saturday along with Oldmeldrum Wargames Group at Targe in Kirriemuir.

Hope to see a few familiar faces and chat to a few new folks. 

I will have copies of Wargaming the Sugar Islands Campaign with me if anyone would like purchase one.

Catching Up

Well it's been a while.

What have I been up to? Flat out with little head space for anything much. But I've had a wee break and now I feel rested so it's time to return to a few things. That said I'm writing this in an airport on my way to Norway so we'll see how long it lasts!

I've not been entirely hobby bereft though.

I have bought and painted some 1859 Austrians from Pirans Warriors. Nice chunky figs which are lovely to paint or if white on whites not your thing, then buying them painted directly from Terry is worth looking into. He regularly sells via EBay and has painting prices on his website. I'm told that more cavalry and jäger poses are coming, so this will be a range I return to.

Pirans preprinted Austrians.

My own version, done using Citadel Contrast Paints.

My main project over the last few months has been working on a demo game for the Targe show in Kirriemuir next month. Oldmeldrum club will be running a game based on the 1849 Siege of Rome.  This will feature and assault on the breached walls after the stiff fighting at the villas on the outskirts of the city, (something that other clubs have done). I've always fancied this type of game so I'm looking forward to finishing things and getting it on display. Figures will be Gringo40's supplemented by a few other bits and pieces, (French Sappers, a photographer and some other little extras). I may pull the scenarios for this together with some text into a short wargamers guide if there is enough interest.

The Walls of Rome, 1849

I haven't done much on the 18th century front for a while, but I plan to get back into that post Kirriemuir. Britain's invasion of Cuba and the Philippines will be my focus and with the taking of Havana and Manila being the key actions. The latter will no doubt be the demo for next year and both will feature in my next book which will be titled "Against Spain". I will be returning to my Crann Tara figures in a few weeks and also plan on publishing a scenario for the excellent Maroon figures which Graham now has for sale. The Sugar Islands book is doing well and is still available. I've been delighted by the interest and feedback from folk around the world. Thanks to everyone who has bought a copy. 

Gaming wise, I've had a few battles at the club using Lasalle over the last couple of weeks which I have thoroughly enjoyed. These are a great set of rules and are well thought out and explained. We agreed last night that they looked right and felt right for an evenings Battalion level - division aside game using 28mm figs. 

Boarding soon, so time to go!

Napoleon III and Italy

Whilst surfing for information on the 1849 Siege of Rome and completing Trevelyan's book, "Garibaldi's Defence of the Roman Republic", I stumbled across the fact that the Musee d'Armee had held and exhibition about Napoleon III's involvement with Italy and had published a rather nice catalogue of it.

Entitled "Napoleon III et L'Italie, Naissance d'une Nation" (Birth of a Nation) it covers the period from 1848 and France's involvement in the recapture of Rome through the Crimean War and the involvement of Piedmont, the 1859 war with Austria and the 1860's, ending with a painting of Garibaldi at Dijon in 1871.

This is an excellent companion to Detaille's "Armee Francaise" and to Trevelyan and is well worth getting your hands on. 

Here are some pictures of the contents.

Cover

Cantiniere's uniform

I got mine via Abebooks and I think it is listed on Amazon too. 300+ pages, high quality glossy paper. French Text.

A Franco-Prussian game

Last night I had the second of two trial games using Rebels and Patriots for the Franco-Prussian war. This is a period I have longed to fight since I first read of it years ago and a few weeks ago I was able to swap some unused figures of mine for some for Graham H's collection.  These have been rebased and cleaned up and a couple of freshly painted recruits added to bolster the French.

Last nights game was a pick up using the Lament Ridge scenario from the rules. We threw down some hexion tiles under a green mat and added some hedgerows. Then deployed our figures.

The French were given the Chassepot for one point while the Prussians I selected as Shock troops due in part to the shorter range and the natural drive of their tactics to close with the enemy.

After deploying we found that the hedges were just out of rifle range, meaning someone had to hop over them into the open ground to get to the objective. A chilling prospect in the bolt action period. The random layout of the terrain gave both Mike , commanding the French and myself with the Prussians some tactical headaches. My Prussians would be in range of the French as soon as they moved, but the French would be able to almost close on the objective before I could fire. The lie of the land also meant one half of the field could not see never mind actually engage the enemy. It was a real pig of a situation for the Prussians. But part of the fun of gaming is to take on a challenge!

I decided to rush the objective and get a turn in front of it to see if I could at least get ownership and prevent the French from getting close. That unit dissolved in a hail of chassepot fire. Then Mikes's French shot up my left flank and drove it back. Then I fumbled an activation and fired on a friendly unit. I was hanging on for dear life but it was in vain and the game ended with me taking almost 50% casualties and gaining no honour. The French held the objective for 4 turns and suffered only minor losses. Unlike the real war they counterattacked when able and inflicted a sharp defeat.

Turcos on the flank.

The French approach the objective.

The Prussians break cover

The Victors.


Some tweaks are really required to get the Prussians to function properly. The shock troop selection itself sounds right, but the higher cost means you have less of them on the table than French Line which shouldn't be the case normally. I will work on these as it's too good a period to ignore.

A visit to Claymore

A trip to Claymore on Saturday, zipping down in the Spider, top down there and back, enjoying the sun.

Arrived around 1.00 to find the show very quiet compared with previous years. Caught up with Graham H and John and Eric from Banchory but missed a few other folks as I was chatting away.

There seemed to be a few display games missing as well as a lot less people and a general lack of buzz. That may have been caused by the lovely weather or the fact that Falkirk and the Glasgow games show have both taken place in the last few months. Not sure.

I had a nice chat with Barry Hilton. Looking forward to his new book covering Eastern Europe. His game looked great as always with the Ottomans in particular popping against the teddybear fur tabletop. 

Another game that caught my eye was the 1866 Battle of Gitchin in 10mm fought over some nicely rolling Kallistra terrain.

Loot was a bit sparse too. I bought a copy of The First Schleswig-Holstein War from Helion, a perry ACW plastic gun and limber box from the B&B, (I need some 19thC limbers for Italy) and some bases. I also had a nice chat with the guy from 1st Corps with resulted in the purchase of some Mex-American Cavalry - Lancers and Lights which will serve instead as 2nd Empire French and Republic troops by dint of a deft scalpel, a head swap and a paint job. They should match my Gringo40's figs and might also do for Major Dundee....! But they will have to wait a bit as my Salle de Guerre is undergoing refurbishment - a lick of paint and some new bookshelves, followed by a new comfy chair and maybe some suitable ornaments too come time!

Looking forward to a catch up game with Graham and a deeper discussion on 3D printing next week.

The Siege of Rome 1849 - a Campaign

Over the last few weeks and months I have been reading Trevelyan's "Garibaldi and the Siege of Rome" and running a few scenarios for the campaign using the excellent Rebels and Patriots rules.

As I've been running the games I've not had the chance to take much pictures and the games themselves have been a bit intermittent as I've been been back and forth across to Norway a fair bit.

However the game still have been good ones and I have been able to use my 28mm Gringo40's Redshirts and Neapolitans as Republican Roman Volunteers and French/ Neapolitans (the uniform is almost identical), and have added some other units too - Bersaglieri from Lombardy and Roman regulars.

After a few weeks of playing the scenarios from the book, representing the initial French advance and failed attack on Rome, last week we moved on to playing actions from the campaign against the Neapolitans.

Bersaglieri de Lombardy advance down the slope at Palestrina towards the Neapolitans, supported by redshirted Republican troops.

At Palestrina the Neapolitans attacked the walled town at two points, managing to capture some houses in front of the town. The republicans attacked at bayonet, driving them back and sending them scuttling back down the hill. 

Neapolitans advance cautiously up the street. 

In our game the Neapolitans began in the village, advancing uphill. The Republicans began on the hill itself, ready to launch their counterattack. 

As the redshirts advanced, the Neapolitan troops broke into the houses to take cover, or took up positions behind cover amongst the olive groves and vineyards. The first shots were fired and the Republicans quickly got to the edge of the village. Without much of a pause a unit of them burst into the first  house and bundled its defenders back out into the street after a brief struggle. The disordered bourbons then fumbled their activation and in panic fired o  their own men, believing them to be the enemy. 

A volley from the now redshirt filled house scattered the panicked unit and it fled down the street, leaving half its number dead and taking the company commander with them!

On the right flank the Bersaglieri were involved in a firefight with some Neapolitan light infantry, neither gaining much of an upper hand. On the left a bourbon unit had taken up position behind a low stone wall but was taking casualties from the republicans. These began to tell and they failed a morale check making them disordered. More casualties were caused and a second morale test was failed but this time badly and they too turned and ran. 

The Neapolitan left, moving up to the wall.

This left just two units of Bourbon troops on the table, facing 4 pretty well intact Republicans. The light infantry holed up in one house and a line unit at the opposite end of the village. With no overall command and separated from each other they surrendered and the game drew to a close.

Historically the Bourbons put up a little bit more of a fight but were defeated and many captured. When brought before Garibaldi they were found to be carrying icons and blessings protecting them from the enemies of the Vatican and fell on their knees begging for mercy from their captors.  The poorly led and motivated Neapolitans couldn't stand against the well led and aggressive Republican troops, especially those led by Garibaldi.  This I represented on the table my making the Republicans Aggressive light infantry and the Neapolitans Green Line. It seemed to work out well. 

The next action will be based on the Battle of Velletri which was fought later in May 1849 and a final game will be based on the French attacking the villas Pamfili and Corsini outside Rome in June. 

I really like the rules and find them prefect for a club night and as a way of playing a period such as this. We're already discussion Hungarian Revolution,  I have stuff for the Crimea and then there are a few adventures in Mexico that could be interesting too. 

Sugar Islands Update

Thanks to everyone who has purchased a copy of "Wargaming the Sugar Islands Campaign". I have been delighted at the response I have had from everyone around the world who has bought a copy.

I have more in stock which you can purchase either directly from me by getting in touch using the contact form at the top right hand side of this blog with your email address and location.

The book contains a summary of the 1759 campaign to capture Martinique and Guadeloupe as well as details of the personalities and units involved. Also included are 6 scenarios for refighting actions from the campaign. These are "systemless" so you will be able to use them with whichever set of rules you prefer.

You'll find more info, pictures and other details elsewhere in this blog.

Cost is £8 plus postage.

Alternatively you can buy a copy from Crann Tara Miniatures at shows.

The Defence of Madame Ducharmey's Plantation

Wild Geese 2019

Last weeekend was the annual Wild Geese Wargames weekend and it was another cracker.

The last few months have been rather busy and I couldn't wait to get away for some great games. This year we had a Napoleonic 28mm skirmish hosted by Tony Dillon, a 7yw battle hosted by Steve Metheringham using his 40mm Prince August Figs, a 28mm Great Northern War battle hosted by Paul Robinson, a fictional 7yw battle held byWill Harley and an AWI game run by the Perry twins using their 28mm figs (of course!).

It was great catching up with everyone again. I think this weekend is as much a social event as an actual gaming weekend and I'm sure most of those attending would agree. I enjoyed the conversations as much as the excellent games. 

The standard of the games this year was particularly high. I really enjoyed Tony's scenario, using his own card driven rules. The terrain and scenery he had put together was excellent, as I'm sure you'll agree from the photos below. 

I also had a game with Will and his Spencer Smith figures. Will manages to turn these old school sculpts into little works of art and, once again, painted up a figure for us all to take away as a souvenir. We used Jim Purky's 18thC rules for this game and they stood the test of a big game with ease. 

On Sunday I had a game with Steve's 40mm's. This was he first time I had gamed with them since trying to mould them myself as a kid, (nicking dad's plumbing solder to make them - sorry dad!). Steve is closely involved in the design of these figures with Prince August and their semi flat design may not be to everyone's taste, but I have to tell you they looked superb. Classic wargaming on a green cloth using "A Gentleman's War" the rule set by Howard Whitehouse. Dave Andrews and I battered the hell out of each other for most of the morning, curiously effected by the "Morrison Effect" a strange phenomenon which surrounds a certain figure designer and reduces dice scores within approximately 1-2 yards of his presence....he wasn't playing but he was standing behind us making us roll lots and lots of 1's!

Sadly I didn't get a chance to play in Paul's big GNW game but heard of cavalry melees sucking in units til they grew to immense size. Nor did I get a chance to play in the Perry's lovely AWI game, perhaps another time.

I did manage to play a cheeky evening game of Blood and Plunder with Gavin (from gamingfigures.com) and Leigh. Lovely figures, nice terrain and very high quality scenery - check out Gav's website for more info. Perfect for small actions set on the Sugar Islands!

Thanks have to go Colin Ashton (and of course Katherine) for organising another great weekend and to all those who hosted games. 

Here's to next year!

You spend ages waiting on one bus....

A rather hectic day at work was improved by the arrival of not one but three parcels for me.

First off was a rather large and heavy box which contained a Spanish Town which I won on EBay, sold by Mike Siggins. Very nice and complimenting my existing Italeri church and houses.




Very useful for my next project but also for Spain and Italy and probably the south of France, Balkans and a few other places.




Next up came this book. I will leave you to work out how the two things tie together!

Also delivered by the postie was a small box. Hot off the casting machine (well still pretty warm since I ordered them only on Saturday!) these are the new dismounted Cossacks from Warfare. 

Although not quite as well fed than my GNW Russians they are a decent match for height and will be taking the field against them rather than along side them. I really like them although I will need a few packs to make sure I don't have too many guys waving their hats. They should make a nice match for my TAG mounted Cossacks too.

Lastly and delivered via email I received a set of rules to playtest from Jim Purky. More on these another time!

It's all go here.

My head is now spinning in the opposite direction....in a good way.🤪

Wargaming the Sugar Islands - update

Back in November I released the Wargaming the Sugar Islands Campaign book. Seven months later I am about to order a second batch from the printer as the first batch of copies are all but gone. Battles in Martinique and Guadeloupe are being fought in all over the world from New Zealand to Canada and Germany to the USA.

At the weekend Graham Cummings of Crann Tara ran a Sugar Islands inspired game at Partizan in the UK. You can find a few pics on his blog here. Scotia Albion Blog

Mark Luther also ran a game in Georgia at the weekend, this time in 15mm. Mark has posted some pics to flicker here. Mark Luther's Game

Both games look great chaps!

Huge thanks to everyone who has purchased a copy so far. Feedback has been excellent. Another batch will be on the way from the printers shortly and copies continue to be available from me directly here using the Contact Form on the blog, as well as from Crann Tara at shows. Price is £8.00 (plus any postage).

Meanwhile work continues on the follow up publication. As well as the Spanish troops I have been painting I have purchased some very nice buildings which will do very nicely for further games in the Caribbean. More on this when they arrive. 

Post Carronade.

Lovely long weekend visiting the Wallace Memorial, Carronade, catching up with folks, meeting friends and then a lovely topdown drive home via a snow flecked Glenshee, then Braemar and Ballater. What a great way to unwind.

First time at Carronade and I must say I'm impressed with the show. It's a little bit of a maze at times for the first timer, remembering who was where with what resulted in several trips to the wrong bit of the wrong building but I enjoyed it more than Salute and think it tops Claymore as the top Scottish show now.

Two tables caught my eye. The wonderfully wacky pirate game complete with flying vessels, tentacles everywhere and superb ships and buildings.

The other was the Sudan game pictured below. Lovely buildings and the fort in particular was a nice piece of real estate.

Caught up with GrahamC on Crann Tara and got my horsies. Got to see his new figures in the flesh so to speak and aqm even more impressed. His trial of 3d design and printing is also going well and should evolve into something commercial at some stage.

Also caught up with Charles Grant, Graham H, Dave Jarvis, John (Commando), Sholto (Scheltrum) and Carlos (nice buildings and boats!).

I didn't get much of what I was after. Dave Thomas didn't have the Perry stuff I needed, Foundry didn't have Crimean or Mexican stuff and at one point all I had to show for there day was some mdf bases as a a booklet on the Swedes. However Gav from gamingfigures had some nice redoubts which would look good on a Caribbean beach, so I cleaned him out.

All in all a great weekend and lovely show too. I'll be back next year.