Wednesday 19 November 2014

New games room and table christened with TYW scrap!

Well, as the title of this post suggests, my new man cave is ready for action. There will no doubt be a larger inaugural game to celebrate the occasion but Rob came up last night for a taster. I opted for Thirty Years War largely because I knew where all the troops were under the table but also because it is a colourful period and the rules are pretty straightforward (Pike and Shotte, love 'em or hate 'em they work for me). Rob took the Swedes and I led the Imperialists, in a simple encounter battle for possession of the river crossings.

 (Above, the armies deployed for battle. Below, a close up of the Imperial left wing)

 (Above, the Swedish army, with their Saxon allies on their far right flank, well out of the way! Below, Finnish horse pushing across the river to try and delay the Imperial advance. They failed and were broken after a hard fight with Imperial cuirassiers)

 (Above, the Swedish centre, the Blue Brigade and the Yellow regiment cross the river. Below, Imperial infantry in some confusion attempting to form up to receive the Swedish attack).

 (Above: Swedish dragoons before they dismounted to take pot shots at the Imperial right wing. Below, over on the other flank the Imperial Cuirassiers, Harquebusiers and Croats forced the Saxons into a defensive hedgehog).

 (Above, Imperial pikes stormed across the bridge, driving off the Saxon musketeers holding the opposite end.  Below, battle rages as the Swedes get in close).

 (Above and below, the hapless Swedish dragoons again. They dismounted just in time to be hit by Imperial Harquesbusiers, fresh from driving off all the enemy horse on the Swedish left flank).

 (Above, the main Imperial infantry line advancing towards the Swedish Blue Brigade, while below, four squadrons of Swedish horse held  in reserve are pushed forward after the Finnish and Livonian horse on their left had been drive off by Imperial cuirassiers.)

 (Above, Swedish cuirassiers move forward in support of their infantry while below, the left closed with the Swedes and crossed the river in strength). 

(Above, Croats harass the Saxons and keep them from deploying out of their immobile hedgehog formation. Below, opposing pike blocks clash in the centre). 

 (Above, the Imperial advance is halted temporarily by the elite Blue brigade. Below, the end of the action.)

This was a great game and when we had to finish it was still very much in the balance. My right wing had driven off and broken their opponents and were swinging around to engage the Swedish centre. My left wing was held up by the Saxons and the terrain. In the centre things were evenly matched except that Rob had six squadrons of uncommitted Swedish horse and his infantry were superior in quality to mine. We  shall never know........ and most remarkable of all, although we were both plagued by some dreadful command rolls as usual at the wrong time, neither of us managed to throw a double 6 and blunder during the entire game!

8 comments:

  1. Classy looking gaming room - looks much better than my garage - and a good looking game.

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  2. That's a splendid looking game Colin. Your man cave looks superb - I really like the glass cabinets for keeping the troops on display. I always feel guilty about putting my painted troops back into filing drawer units for months on end, hiding all my hard painting work as the drawers close on them. Top shelf for buildings and pickelhaubes is a cracking idea too! :-)
    Best wishes,
    Jason

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  3. Nice to see your back up and running, the new surroundings look great

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  4. Great room and nice looking table.

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  5. Great room and a great looking game! Hope you enjoy many more in the weeks and months ahead!

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  6. That is one lovely games room, and I, Sir, am most envious!

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  7. Colin, Great to see you back in action, the room looks absolutely fantastic!

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  8. Colin, great to see the return of the wargame room of the Dale, i look forward to trying it out some time soon ish cheers

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