Holiday Gaming 4 - Wild Geese 2022

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.

Tony's Hougoumont

Gary's SYW

Willz Mollwitz

Martin's Wellington In India

Steve's 40mm Prince August 

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. 

Willz Spencer Smiths (Mollwitz with Imaginations)

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.

Martin's 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!

Gary's Austrians 

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. 

Paul  - Best General presented by Willz

Tim - Luckiest General, my opponent in two games!

Aly collecting his perennial award - unluckiest general

Gary wins best game with  prize presented by Chris Greig

Dave wins most Gentlemanly Wargamer

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!

Holiday gaming - part 1 - Against Spain - Outside Manila

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. 

Against Spain - Defend the Battery

 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.

Against Spain - Advance on Guanabacoa

 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. 

Against Spain - The Spanish Strike Back

Prep done for tonight's club game which will be a battle between elements of the 79th Foot and some Sepoys against Spanish and Filipino tribesmen.

I will take some shots of the game and make the roster sheets available afterwards. 

Thanks to everyone who has bought a copy so far and for the reviews on Aly and Graham C's blogs. 

Remember Against Spain is only available direct from myself. You can get a copy by getting in touch via the Contact Me box on the rhs of the blog. I've shipped to the four corners of the globe already, so don't miss out.

Against Spain - Spanish Troops at Havana

 As Against Spain is out soon I thought it would be a good idea to give you an overview of some of the Spanish units which took part in actions during the siege of Havana.

The Spanish have a colourful army which is straightforward to paint and whose white coats be broken up with blues and even yellow to make a colourful force to paint up. 

The army wore a plain coat, with turned back tails, large cuffs and a small collar. Equipment was natural leather, probably of a buff colour. Headgear either a yellow laced tricorn with a red cockade or a fur grenadier cap with a hanging bag in the facing colour. 

The table below gives the units who fought at Havana. 

In addition to these units there were sailors and marines from the fleet, the latter in blue coats with red turn backs and cuffs, breeches and waist coats. There were also militia in civilian clothing from rural towns and villages near Havana. 

For figures I used Crann Tara's Spanish, but SYW French with turnbacks would suit from several suppliers or the slightly later AWI Spanish figures from Perry Miniatures. For the civilian militia I have Minden AWI militia and Crann Tara civilians and again AWI types would suit here. For the Blanco, Pardo and Moreno militia I used Crann Tara again as they designed the latter for me especially for the book. But since uniforms were probably not issued until after the siege you can use civilians militia. Eagle Figures make some nice Militia and Orinoco have some nice figures which would be great for the rural militiamen from the area surrounding Havana. 

STOP PRESS....the books are on their way to me now and I should have them in my hands very soon. 

Against Spain - Update

The draft of "Against Spain - Wargaming the Sieges of Havana and Manila" is with the printer for review. 

Contents - 

Foreword.

Background to the campaigns

Leaders and Forces Involved

The Invasion of Cuba

The Invasion of the Philippines

The End of the War with Spain

Wargaming the Invasions

Notes and Bibliography 

75 pages of full colour pictures and periods maps and 6 wargames scenarios for 18thC games - 3 set on Cuba covering the landing, encounter with the Spanish and a Spanish counterattack and 3 in the Philippines covering the defence of the landing beach, the storming of Manila and a battle in the jungle between sepoys, Spanish and Filipino tribesmen. Each scenario has a full colour map and breakdown of troops involved and can be used with any game system. Perfect for Rebels and Patriots, Sharp Practice and Muskets and Tomahawks or your preferred skirmish rules.

Want to know more - drop me a line and ask!

Against Spain - Sepoys, Lascars and Havana Morenos and something for the Sea too.

 I have been quite busy over the last few weeks, both at the painting bench and off it.

However it hasn't been quiet on the painting bench either. I have managed to paint a frigate to use as a support vessel for the landings on Cuba. 

Blood and Plunder Frigate 

I've sent figures away to be painted by Stuart Foley, who's done a lot of figures for me before

Havana Moreno Militia by Crann Tara

British Sepoys by Crann Tara

I've painted some Sepoy deserters and some Indian sailors, labourers and camp followers for the siege of Manila.

Labourers by Crann Tara

Early Sepoys by CrannTara

Added some irregulars to the Havana Blanco militia unit.

Militia marching and Spanish Infantry by Crann Tara

And painted another couple of longboats for the landing on Cuba. These and the frigate bought from Gaming Figures. 

Finally I've finished the guns for the fort and the for the frigate. That's almost everything I need in terms of figures and accompanying bits. There are some crates and other stores which are needed for one scenario in the the Philippines but otherwise that is it. Once these figures are all based I plan on taking pictures of each scenario in play for the blog and finishing checking the text and references for Against Spain and then it's off to the printers. 

New figures for Havana and Manila....and more besides

 I received some pictures from Graham at Crann Tara of new figures which Andy Stadden has completed. These will be prefect for the sieges of Havana and Manila.

Indian Labourers

Good for adding muskets and melee weapons to as well as for helping to dig the siege lines at Manila or for early in-uniformed sepoy peons.

British Sepoys 

600 of these at Manila and of course a staple of combat in India too. 

French Sepoys

It wasn't just the British who made use of Indian soldiers.

Manila Black Militia

The Spanish deployed 3 types of militia at Havana. White, multiracial and black units known in Spanish as "blanco", "pardo" and "moreno". The blancos and pardos wore a typical European uniform of coat, waistcoats and tricorn. The Moreno unit wore a simplified version of this with a cap with turned up flaps or sewn on panels and front and back. 

These uniforms were first recorded after the siege, but lasted through to the AWI and were worn by several of Spain's Caribbean and American possessions. These figures will be prefect to the 1760's through to the 1780's.

Andy has done a great job in sculpting these and Graham tells me they'll be ready in a couple of months. 

Can't wait to get my mitts on some!