2024 Begins.

Well I didn't manage to end the year with a game as my car broke down on Hogmanay, scuppering our plans, but we had a fine Chinese takeaway and watched Jools as the bells came in so a nice relaxing end to the year. 

We first footed the Hilditch's on the first after being picked up by Graham and whilst our better halves chatted we kicked off a game with Graham's 40mm SYW figures. Nothing planned - we just threw down some terrain and picked a force of Reichsarmee and a mix of Prussian Fusiliers, line and garrison inf and hussars.

Using Jim Purky's one page SYW rules we were soon under way with Graham's horse charging my leading unit of Fusiliers while I tried to get the rest of my infantry up the table and off the line of march into formation. My cavalry, two units of hussars had no one facing them so off the galloped hoping to get round the rear of the allied force and cause plenty mischief. 

Despite a battering my fusiliers held and despite being forced back were themselves able to drive off the Reichsarmee horse. Graham's foot, a Swiss unit and a German one were now pressing down on my Prussian line while the garrison rgt formed up, refusing its flank. A small detachment of jäger managed to get off a few shots which delayed the allied La Mark rgt and gave me a breathing space while my battalion gun shot up another unit, further blunting Graham's attack. The hussars continued their ride....

On my right I was able to get both fusilier units into line and stabilise that flank. The last of Grahams cavalry took a volley and turned for the rear. In the centre La Mark had reformed but now had a unit of my hussars on their flank which effectively pinned them. The centre was still a bit of a tangle but odds were equal. 

There we left it as the smell of cooking and rumbling tummies got the better of us. But we will continue just as soon as we're able. 

Graham's was kind enough to give us, our sons dog which we were looking after, and our bags etc a lift home yesterday since we didn't have a car (worst time to break down, thankfully it was only a couple of down yards from the flat and not on the country roads).  Now we are back I have started to put my 40th anniversary plans into action and have ordered what will become the Ziggurat and some more plastic conquistadores as I've used up all of mine making pike and shot units.

Good to get '24 off with a bang! 

A Return to the Sugar Islands... in 40mm

 Last weekend I had the opportunity to catch-up with Graham H and we decided that it had been a bit too long since his excellent 40mm SYW figs had been on the table. So we decided to play the Ambush scenario from my Sugar Islands book. 

The scenario was designed to game the British struggle to get their men through rough country to be able to capture Fort Royal. The British advance was hindered by the narrow road to Fort Royal and the fact that the French were able to continually harass them with swarms of skirmishers taking advantage of the home ground. The British sent their Grenadiers and highlanders forward to clear the way and capture overlooking high ground. 

In  our game a unit of Grenadiers, one of Scots and a supporting unit of line infantry were advancing towards a hill with large house on it. They were attacked by three French units, one of line and one each of marines and militia. 

The game went very well, with the British finding it difficult to engage the French, casualties were not overly high, but Graham suffered from some poor morale rolls which disordered his grenadiers and highlanders and even had them scuttling back to the road in what could otherwise have been said to have been a rout! But there they reformed and the French decided it was time to head for the hill and call it a day. 

A great game, with a few surprising twists. We used Graham's 40mm figs and Jim Purky of Fife and Drum's AWI rules to play. Piccies below - 

Both Wargaming the Sugar Islands and Against Spain are still available , directly from me, from Caliver or from On Military Matters. The UK's postal woes continue at the time this post was written, and a recent order to the US took quite a long time to arrive safely. However it did arrive - thanks Brett for your patience! 

1st Game of the Year - the End of the Glen Campaign

 Let off the lead today to play a game with Graham H.

We decided to finish off the intermittent Glen Campaign which we have been running. After several skirmishes the two sides faced off near Skene, the town sitting at the gap where the Glen turns into the Valley. Here the three Union commands faced down the two remaining Confederate commands which had taken up position in a sunken road just outside town. This provided a good deal of cover and Graham deployed most of his units along its length, but threw two out behind the cover of a small wheat field in order to blunt the Union advance. I had the advantage of numbers, but most of my command were green recruits, leavened with 3 veteran units and some sharp shooters. Not the 3:1 odds I needed to take a defended position, but I hoped to be able to soak us some damage by not getting into to many firefights....

Pickett's charge....union style! 

The Union Army begins its advance

The Confederates await. 

Action across the field. Union gain the upper hand on the left and right flanks but are driven back initially on the latter despite artillery reinforcement from the Rebels.

But breakthrough is achieved and the remaining men in grey and butternut are driven off the table. 

The game could have gone the other way, but my morale tests were good, even for the green units and casualties were spread over the whole command. Graham's men did benefit from cover but I went in with the bayonet which seemed to do the trick, although accurate fire from the Sharpshooters caused a lot of disorders. Graham's fire did have some effect - the central Union brigade was badly cut up, but held long enough to push through with the veterans on the left to win the day and end the campaign. 

A great way to kick the year off. Much plans for 2023 were made too - including hopefully putting on display games at Falkirk and Kirriemuir. 

Holiday Gaming - Part 3

 The Glen Campaign 2

To Forres yesterday for another game from our "it's not quite the valley as you know it" Rebels & Patriots 40mm Skirmish campaign. 

As we left it Confederate Captain Dashing moved from Kintore to Machar and attacked Union General O'Neil with his small mixed force. We had rolled the Bullets and Beans scenario which meant that I, as O'Neil was in camp when Dashing appeared with 4 units of infantry, (inc one vets and one with obsolete weapons) and a gun. My 3 infantry units and a gun (ie the units which O'Neil had available - 1 vet, 1 reg and 1 green unit) were in camp and only one unit could occupy each of the 4 sections meaning Dashing had the advantage, despite the cover offered by the camp. 

Things got off to a dodgy start when my Irish vets became disordered and withdrew from their section but the following turn the regulars delivered a stiff volley and the gun sent canister into the advancing confederates. This coupled with Grahams units getting tangled and masking his gun gave me a breather and I was able to drive the confederates back while I rallied my men. 

The battle was not to go all my own way however - with his line of fire now cleared Graham was able to whittle down the crew of my gun and force it back. I threw my green volunteers forward to occupy the now empty sector and they were able to hold on while the Irish and the regulars blazed away. The order began to turn and along the Irish and the gun were worn my other two units had no hits. Graham had taken some hefty volleys and lost the first of his infantry units, followed by a second a few turns later. Turn 7 rolled round and the confederates were on the edge of the camp. 

Another turn (8) of  union fire kept them out and caused a second unit to break, but all of my units were now disordered though only with light casualties. Graham had lost a second unit from disruption and we rolled the die for the end of the game...and it was all over. My men had managed to just keep the confederates out of the camp and had suffered  lighter casualties. The confederates had suffered from accurate musketry and couldn't quite get into the camp. 

We totted up loses and wrote orders for the next turn. This time Stuart led his detachment down to Kintore while O'Neil advanced from Machar. This move trapped Dashing in his camp - the boot was on the other foot. But the confederate camp was an all together more solid affair  and Stuart, reinforced by O'Neils artillery would have his work cut out.

Dashing cut off in Kintore by Stuart and O'Neil

Overall this is turning out to be a neat little campaign. The rules in Rebels and Patriots are able to handle this extra dimension driving the game and the campaign setting and mechanisms are able to fit with the rules. I can see this map being used again for campaigns a bit closer to home, perhaps the retreating Jacobites and their Hanoverian foes, the Earl of Mar and the Lord of the Isles and Bruce and the Comyns, all of whom stomped over the same ground. 

Tomorrow I leave for Kenilworth for the much delayed Wild Geese 2020 nope, 2021 er make that 2022 weekend. That promises to be a great weekend and finale to my hols. 3 years since our last weekender this is going to be special.

Holiday Gaming part 2 - The Glen Campaign

 For my second holiday game I was up at Graham H's where we kicked off our 40mm ACW campaign using the simple rules and map which I knocked up a short while back. 

This was not a detailed reflection of military strategy and tactics...just an mechanism to get some games played in a sort of framework, and it looks like it's done its job!

We drew up our armies, 10 units of infantry, (including a mix of green, regular and veteran types, aggressive confederates and a sharpshooter unit for the union) and 2 squadrons of cavalry and 3 guns each. We also rolled up 3 officers - A major and two captains, each with their own traits. 

Starting off at our depots we wrote orders for our commands and then revealed them. The first move didn't see any action but soon my Union Captain Chambers bumped into Confederate forces under Captain Flash in some woodland near Harlaw. 

As defender, my role was to get my forces off the table ....the table diagonally opposite where I  was positioned and with a mixed bunch of 1 green, 1 regular, a small unit of sharpshooters, cavalry and a gun my job wasn't going to be easy. Graham had two regulars, a veteran unit and a gun in the woods to my left. 

I needed to get off the road and into the woods in my right and get up the table as quickly as possible so I used my sharpshooters and cavalry as a screen to hold off a unit of regulars which I could see coming off the road to block my path. I got my green troops moving and screened my flank with my gun and regulars, opening up with the former at Graham's vets who were moving through the clearings to attack. 

The cavalry dismounted (normally cav can't use the fire order, but this seemed appropriate for civil war period cav), but their carbines didn't have the range to engage, so they moved up. This brought them into range of the confederate regulars who gave them a heavy volley and sent them scuttling back onto their horses. The sharpshooters did more good though and a firefight opened with the rebels, my men picking off troops without much of a reply. 

On the road my gun was now under fire from Graham's own artillery, but they had held up the veterans and allowed my green troops to get deep into my side of the table and up towards their objective. My regulars now turned and fired on the confederate regulars who were closing in and this allowed my gun to limber up and get away - just in time. Id lost most of the crew. The game was now becoming a race to see if I could get my men off the corner zone or if Graham could place his men across the line of advance and block it. 

First off were the cavalry, at 50% they'd lost too much to take part in any further fighting. My green troops  were next, as the door began to swing shut. I got my regulars across and my badly damaged gun and my still fresh sharpshooters just a move or two away, but now Graham had men in place. His own casualties were mounting though and the end of the game was looming. I fumbled my activation for the skirmishers so they didn't get off but Graham had taken too many hits as his gunfire was not causing any casualties. With that the dice was thrown and the game ended. 

I narrowly squeaked a "victory" of sorts....I managed to get enough troops off the table to gain some honour, but Grahams high casualties and lack of hits on my men meant Captain Flash wouldn't be getting the honour of a mention in despatches to Richmond. My men made it back to the main body under General Stuart at Harlaw and I'm sure Captain Chambers would have had some explaining to do.

We worked out our casualties and wrote orders for the next move. Holding the central position General Stuart decided to hold with Captain Chambers at Harlaw. Captain O'Neil was at Kemnay and had settled down for the night with his small force in camp when the pickets sounded alarm.....

To be continued....

Rebels and Patriots - ACW

 Yesterday I popped up to see Graham H. We had planned to go to Culloden to attend one of the talks there, but got the days muddled. So instead we had a couple of games with Grahams fine 40mm ACW collection, which hadn't had an outing for quite a long time. 

To keep things simple we used the suggested army lists in the rules, picking two mid war sides. Some terrain was placed, a long road crossing a river with a stone bridge, and a church, quite an idyllic scene til the soldiers came!

The first game kicked off with Graham's Confederates advancing along the road over the bridge and deploying onto the southern side of the river. My union troops were a mix of veterans and green men, and the latter proved somewhat tardy getting off the road and into line. I had enough time to get a line of my Irish veterans out before the firing started. Graham started to move round my flank, but his gun was soon masked by his own men and was forced to redeploy onto the bridge. My new recruits were still sluggish, and at one point panicked and fired on their own men, but later  I received some reinforcements from the rear and eventually got myself sorted into two lines, bringing a halt to the Grahams advance. 

The Irish took several casualties and were forced back, luckily to a more protected position. My gun was now in action and wearing down the rebels to my front and the men in grey were taking casualties from my springfields too. My recruits were now in position to the right of the Irish and in time to catch a unit of rebels as they advanced over a hill. They opened up and the Irish managed a double volley and Grahams men were forced back. 

With the union troops gaining the upper hand and high casualties amongst the confederate ranks, it was time to call it quits for lunch.

After sandwiches in the patio in the warm Moray sun, it was time for game two. This time with early war forces from the book. Green infantry for me, supported by a gun and aggressive inf, a unit of cavalry and a gun for Graham. 

This time the terrain was more open the table being nipped in at its waist by two wooded areas, a cabin on the left and the county church on the right.

The confederates advanced quickly, cavalry galloping to the cabin and taking up skirmish line behind its picket fence. The rest of Graham's men headed for the church woods. Again my troops were sluggish and difficult to get moving, but I uncovered my gun early and this meant I was able to score some early hits. 

When I did advance I got the cavalry winkled out from behind the fence and drove them off and swung my line across the table. Grahams men were in the woods, and I couldn't get my troops to go in and get them - sevens to activate, kept rolling six. So a firefight erupted, and gradually I was able to bring my numbers to bear, although again the gun did most of the killing. Although my activations were poor, my morale tests were good and my troops held their positions, whilst the rebels were whittled down. 

Two quick games was good fun. Rebels and Patriots is a good system, though the guns were probably too much for skirmishes. We intend a to have a mini campaign, giving each player a few named units to draw on, and a few officers to lead them. This will let the units gain some history and the leaders some honour and add a bit of flavour to the games,