Whilst looking for an ex colleagues new business I stumbled across an account of a skirmish between Scottish Fencibles and French Privateers in 1780. Couple this with 6 hours in a train and I wrote a wee skirmish scenario for it.
You can download it on the Free Stuff tab, along with an earlier scenario I wrote as an addition to the Sugar Islands Campaign book.
Sunday was a sunny day so I had a quick play test in the garden. Let's just say things didn't go well for the Fencibles!
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I'm collecting figures for a mini campaign set around the time of the 1st Jacobite Rebellion for an article which I will be writing.
As a kid my Dad took me to stay at a bothy at Inverey, just up the road from Braemar. Behind the bothy were the ruins of the "castle" of The Black Colonel, a staunch Jacobite who blew up his own castle as the redcoats came to take him after Killiecrankie and then hid in gorge to escape. A great story for a wee kid.
More was revealed in a book I have mentioned before on this Blog - Fenton Wyness's Legends of North East Scotland.
However it wasn't until fairly recently that I stumbled across John Farqhuarson once again. This time his exploits were more detailed. Mr Wyness was never one to let the facts get in the way of a good story, but in truth the history was well worth following up.
Not only was there skirmish at Inverey, but at Braemar and another at Ballater too.
As I already have Jacobites it was a case of adding Williamite forces and as they seem to have been dragoons I started to look around for some. The venerable Dixon range is a little limited when it comes to dragoons. The obvious choice - Warfare - didn't come up with the goods either. I need horses as well as mounted and dismounted dragoon and I thought I'd have to make do with a mix of infantry and standing horses. However Ebor have now got Grand Alliance figures AND have dragoon units on foot with horse holders. Sorted! Even better they come with a mix of heads and poses so perfect for skirmish games and their Paul Hicks sculpts fit in with the older Warrior Miniature Jacobites.
As these lads were far from the the campaigns going on in Ireland I have swapped two hats for highland bonnets and when it comes to painting breeches won't all be regularly uniform either. These will be packed off and sent to the painter next week.
For terrain I shall need a bastle house - the Colonel's "Castle". I already have a tower house suitable for Braemar, which didn't have its wall at this time, that's a later post Jacobite addition. For Ballater I thought I'd need more pine trees, but a hunt around the internet shows the pass of Ballater almost treeless in a 19thC photograph, it's carpet of pines is the result of later plantings.
Whilst the figures are getting painted I will type up my notes into background and scenarios. These will be available later this year as part of a well known wargames publication.
Tuesday night is games night. After last weeks games at Oldmeldrum Wargames Club, we decided we'd have another game or two this week. As I'd finished painting and basing cavalry to go with my infantry I thought we'd have a cavalry only game - and so played the River Crossing Scenario from the Pikeman's Lament rulebooks. The Swedes had two units of Gallopers plus two units of Cossacks, which the Russians had Trotters and two Cossacks. The Russians should really have been dragoons but I wanted to see how the two different cavalry units would interact.
The Russians sent their Cossacks galloping forward and across the central bridge whilst their horse aimed for either flank. The Swedes on the other hand sent the majority of their mounted men to the western side of the bridge, only to have to pull some back as the Russian Cossacks crossed swiftly. A swirling skirmish broke out with units circling and trying to wipe each other out, in the end the Swedes came off best and the surviving Russian Cossacks retreated off table.
Leaderless and without the ability to drive away the Swedes the game was over for the Russians but we decided to play a second game. The Swedes would deploy their infantry up to the line of the river. The Russians would deploy theirs along the north edge of the table. The Swedes went first placing a field gun on the south east corner to fire along the Russian line and a veteran musketeer unit between the gun and the bridge, a unit on the bridge and a unit of horse and final musketeer unit on the north western length of the river. The Russians lined up along the table but stacked their forces on the right, they also deployed a gun, a lighter and mobile battalion piece.
Driving forward the Russians were soon at the river and splashed across wearing down the Swedish units with good musketry and the supporting battalion gun. The swedes put in a cavalry charge but it was easily seen off and after several poor activation rolls and a blunder their flank was swept away. The Russians managed to lose a unit in trying to attach the bridge, but regained it when they score well following a double 6 allowing them to gain a 4pt reinforcement. As the Russians had now cleared the Swedish flank their position was untenable and the game was called.
Two great games, very different, but fought over the same terrain. I think we'd do the same again, playing out different phases of scouting, approach and pitched battle. The all cavalry game was fun - first time I think I've had a game without any supporting foot.
Next week we're going to take a look at using the Pax Baltica board game to give us a campaign and link it somehow with tabletop games.
Since I had finished my GNW Swedes and Cossacks it was time to put them on the table for a game.
On Tuesday evening I ran the King's Warchest scenario from the Pikeman's Lament rules by Osprey at Oldmeldrum.
In the scenario a group of wagons has been left somewhat unattended while their guards are at the edge of a lake or river. The attacker, the Russians in this instance, see an opportunity and pounce, hoping to snatch the wagons.
In our game the Russians couldn't quite press their attack and get men close enough to steal a wagon and suffered the loss of both of their flanks as supporting Swedish troops arrived to thwart their efforts.
As it was only 9 o'clock we decided to play a straight across table fight. This time the Russians came out on top, destroying the Swedish left although the Swedes achieved some honour by forcing the Russian Cossacks to rout.
Two good games. The ebb and flow of battle is really well represented by the flip of initiative from side to side when an activation test or rally test is failed. It can be frustrating to lose at the beginning of your turn, but in these small games there's no long wait til it's back to you and an option for multi player games would be for each player to have an officer and a separate turn.
It's was good to see the figures on the table too - nice bright colours, soon to be augmented by regular cavalry for both sides when I get round to finishing the bases for them too.
I have restored some of the classic Foundry Cossack Characters which I fell heir to last year. Originally in my late friend Mike's collection these had been bumped around a bit and had some bashes and scrapes as well as a few missing lances. They were also based for a winter campaign.
I gave the snowy bases a good dabbing in green poster paint and drybrushed that up a little then tidied up the figures and hoses where I could see bare metal poking through. Lastly I gave them a good coat of varnish since it's a fine sunny day up here.
These will join my GNW Russians and Swedes as allies or enemies for either.
But now I have no excuse to get some winged hussars! π€¦π»♂️
Well it was a long long time coming but 3 years after our last meet we finally managed to get together for our much delayed Wild Geese gaming weekend last Friday to Sunday in Kenilworth.
The Wild Geese began as a group of wargamers who were inspired by John Ray's excellent "A Military Gentleman of the 18th Century". Each year we play a selection of games with great figures in great company.
This year we had a Mollwitz refight withWill Harley and his Spencer Smiths. Hugomont run by Tony Dillon. Gary Philip ran a SYW refight with his Minden and Crann Tara figures, Steve Metheringham put on a other SYW game, Prague, using his 40mm semi flat Prince August figs and Martin Gane ran a Wellington In India game with Redoubt figures.
Taking part we had a fine bunch of gamers for whom the game important and who know their stuff inside and out, but who also like a real good blether and a social over a drink or three.
So the scene was set for a great weekends Wargaming and catching up with each other.
I played in Willz game where the Austrians smashed their cavalry into the Prussians in a swirling melee which ebbed back and forth, capturing Frederick the great, but being driven in on the opposite flank resulting in a win on the field for the Prussians but a mess for both sides strategically.
On Saturday afternoon it was time to take the British and sepoys into action against the Mahratta in India. The British were greatly outnumbered and the rockets flew into them, over them and around them and for a while we were at a loss as to how to take on the the huge army before us....then we thought...ah sod it...Chaaaarge....and for a moment, shattering the Mahratta centre and putting them to flight...just as our flanks collapsed and we were ourselves overrun. A truly epic game.
There followed a very very late night or an early morning discussing politicians, common cars, Yo, Beowulf and the vowel change, striking egyptologists and tv presenters with a certain speech impediment, youthful efforts at American football and whisky collections....
Sunday, please don't roll those dice so loudly....and it was time to play the Austrians again - with Gary and his Mindens. Now there wasn't much to do but hang on as long as possible as the Prussians just slowly inexorably moved forward and ground the Austrians into the dust. I wasn't at my most energetic for sure, but god I had some bad dice so no lucky breaks and that was what was needed to survive, so a historical result was very much achieved. It was a challenge to try and change that, which made the game, but it wasn't going to be be our day!
And with that it was time to tidy up distribute the prizes give Steve a round of applause for organising the whole thing and promise to see each other again next year.
And you know what.....this time, I think we will. I'm looking forward to it already.
And talking of looking ahead -
Last weekend concluded my time off and I'm settling into my new job. It promises to be busy, but in a much more rewarding way than my last one. I can feel the benefits of it already. As it's now midway through the year I will be having a good think about what I want to do with my hobby for the rest of it and I'm going to have a lot more creative headspace.
What is certain is that the 18th and 19th centuries will remain my key periods. I have done a lot of work on my next book, which will cover the late 16th century, a very local theme compared with distant tropical campaigns this time. The Glen Campaign will continue and a different, fictional 19thC campaign will form another project. The next 6 months will be interesting!
I'm off on holiday at the moment, having a sneaky break between my old job and new one. After a lovely long weekend away up Donside, then down to Edinburgh and Glasgow I was at my local Club to continue playing out the scenarios from my Against Spain book.
Now we have reached Manila on the Philippines. The British have landed through the surf onto a beach near the city and established a depot there while they build their siege line. The expedition suffered from a lack of regular troops and equipment - and this meant the beach depot was not particularly well defended nor was Manila cut off - allowing Spanish forces and supplies to come and go. A sally was inevitable, and when it came it was a force or regulars, militia and tribesmen who attacked.
The depot was near a Spanish church which in our game housed a detachment of the 79th foot. This was only a short distance from the forest, and it was from this location that trouble arrived. Bill, commanding the Spanish sent his regulars and militia round the church, and his Filipino tribesmen against its stone walls, thinking they wouldn't be good for much but they're tie up the defenders. Dave settled down for a siege. His thoughts were that he could hold out until the Grenadiers and another detachment of the 79th arrived from the lines nearer the city.
It was going to be quite a different battle for both sides....
First of all the tribesmen crashed into the church and in a fierce melee (good dice from Bill and a poor morale check from Dave), drove the defenders back from the vestibule (it's a big model!) into the nave where fighting took place amongst the stores and stacked pews. Bill sent his second tribal unit into the church and they swept the 79th back once more forcing them out of the building. Dave (with Robert on the dice), wasnt having a great start. The only consolation as was the city militia were proving very sluggish and it seemed hadn't been paying much attention to musketry drills...they only managed to amble round the church and line up, getting them to fire at the beach depot was proving impossible. Regiment del Rey, on the other flank were better, firing a volley into the defenders amongst the boxes, barrels and tents.
Another round of melee broke the remaining men of the 79th and they fled for the city. The marauding tribesmen were now free to attack the camp, which they set about with some glee and the British there were pushed back from the breastworks of baggage and equipment. There seemed to be something wrong with the morale dice and it wasn't getting any better.
The militia were still dithering about, unable, or unwilling to get a shot off, but at last some help arrived from the siege lines and the Grenadiers showed up. A firefight started between them and the Spanish regulars. But back at the beach, the British were now in deep trouble having been pushed back yet again they were practically on the surf line. However order now began to break down and some of the Bill's tribesmen now got stuck in the depot, unable to activate below half strength and probably thoroughly looting the place. The militia still didn't fancy much action, but did at least move round to watch.
The Grenadiers and Rgt del Rey were blazing away but the Spanish were getting the upper hand but the arrival of the remainder of the 79th brought hope for Dave.....fleetingly....
The men on the beach faced another attack by the Filipino's and were overwhelmed. The dice had been cruel....three 3's for morale tests in a row and poor shooting and melee rolls had done for the Brits.
Historically the British were able to drive off the Spanish, but with some loss and the fighting quality of the tribesmen was noted. This game showed just how finely balanced the attack on Manila was and had the Spanish been slightly more organised and active in their defence they would have driven the attackers off. As disorganised and poorly resourced as the British were, it was their single mindedness which saw them through. We will deal the the attack on the city itself in the next game in a few weeks time.
As we have reduced numbers at the club it was a two aside game from my Against Spain book tonight.
Following on from the Advance on Guanabacoa scenario a few weeks ago we played the next scenario from the book, the Spanish attack on one of the British batteries firing on Manila and El Moro.
The Spanish rowed men across from Havana and the moved up from the coast, attacking from behind the British position. Appearing from the cover of the trees the Spanish caught the British napping and the three units defending the battery had their work cut out as the Spanish commander Dave, chose to send two units round each side of the battery and his remaining unit of marines and sailors to demonstrate against the centre of the British position.
In response I brought the scratch unit of gunners and assistants up to the breastworks at the rear of the camp along with the 60th, while the Grenadiers tried to get out of the camp to take on the Moreno and Pardo militias. However using Rebels and Patriots grenadiers are shock troops and have a reduced range for shooting, to encourage them to close. This time however Dave managed two decent first volleys which caused a fair amount of casualties to the Grenadiers, so they were pulled back pdq!
I managed to keep the marines and sailors back and a low morale throw disordered and then broke them, but the Blanco's and the Havana garrison were edging closer. Only the cover provided by the breastworks was saving the British from losing men, but the Spanish were getting into short range - my shooting wasn't great and even the militia would start to whittle the Brits down once they were closer.
I brought the grenadiers out to the right of the camp to try and shoot away the Spanish regulars and for once my shooting resulted in a decent volley from both the Grenadiers and the 60th. This halted both the Pardo militia and the Garrison men. It was the last act of the grenadiers though as they were wiped out in the firefight. This left just two British units.
By now the Havana blanco's had got into the camp, but a sharp volley ended their incursion and they were wiped out, this left Dave with three units, but the Pardo's were pretty shot up and the Garrison regiment had lost a quarter of their men. They took further casualties trying to close from the 60th and failed their subsequent morale test. Now at less than 50% they were disordered and retired and at that the Spanish had lost more than 50% of their men and the game was over.
It had been a close thing. The British were getting decent morale rolls but poor shooting. The Spanish, bring mostly militia (green), suffered from poor activations the two good volleys I managed to get in coincided with poor morale thrown from the Spanish and that saved the day for the Brits, who were close to losing their second unit and the game.
Historically the British were able to drive the Spanish off, both sides suffering high casualties, so this game was a historical result. A second sally from Havana with more regular troops as well as militia was repulsed more easily and then the British received reinforcements and fresh supplies of powder and shot and the fate of El Moro and Havana were sealed.
All of the figures (other than the pickets, the Caribbean camp follower and the casualties) , were from Crann Tara Miniatures, (now available from Caliver Books) , and include the Moreno militia which were designed specifically with this campaign in mind.
If you'd like a copy of Against Spain, please use the contact box on the right to drop me a line.
We played the Advance on Guanabacoa scenario last week at Oldemeldrum Wargames Club.
Im umpired the game and other than a direction or two, pretty much left the players to sort the tactical situation out themselves. What seemed to be a straightforward fight between some crack regulars and a larger number of militia turned into something completely different.
Using rebels and patriots the British advanced and started to cross the stream, while eager to close and slow down their advance, the Spanish also tried to move forward. This didn't quite go according to plan, as you might expect when trying to move militia towards more resolute troops.
The British however decided to sit in the streambed, perhaps enjoying the shade and cool water in the heat of the Cuban sun. The Spanish were able to pick off one or two here and there, but bringing enough of them up to have any effect was difficult. So, to try and force the issue the Edimburgo Dragoons were ordered into action and they trotted down towards the light infantry who seemed happy to sit in the stream.
The resulting clash was inconclusive with both sides failing to cause any casualties, but due to the cover of the banks, it was the Dragoons who were forced back. The Spanish were struggling to control their men, one unit then a second ran out of ammo and poor activation rolls of 3's and 4's causing them to hold in place rather than advance to form a new line and instead it was decided to fall back an draw the British, who were still fairly fresh, forward. This had the desired effect, but now the Spanish began to take heavy casualties from the Brits. It looked like the Spaniards would soon be done for. One more turn though ....and this time casualties on the British lights, who had failed their previous check and were already disordered......the dice were thrown and a second terrible dice throw meant the lights, now in the open decided they weren't taking any more of it and turned and routed. With half of the British gone, the Grenadiers couldn't complete their objectives and the game was over!
Victory - snatched from the jaws of defeat!
What would this have meant for the British?
Further troops would have had to have been detached to cover Guanabacoa, but the Spanish had shown that they could fight and the remaining militia would have taken heart from the action. They'd certainly show more mettle and possibly have landed more troops in an early attempt to drive the British back to the sea. Guanabacoa may have served as the jumping off point for further attacks, threatening the vulnerable British flank and rear.
