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.