GOODBYE TO KISLEV

After several years of um'ing and ar'ing I have finally put my Warhammer Kislev army up for sale on ebay. It took ages to put together by trawling ebay. Don't know if it'll go but its free listing weekend so nothing lost. Might even put my Empire stuff up for sale next time but we shall see. Not really into GW stuff these days and with what they cost I doubt I shall be smitten again this side of winning the euromillions lottery!

CAMDEN REFIGHT (BLACK POWDER)

Well, if there was one word I could use to describe this evening's refight of Camden it'd be 'quick'. That said, it was actually a very fast moving and tense game. Not a walkover for the British by any means but a hard won victory, thanks to some extreme dice throwing! Rob played the British while John took the two Maryland Continental brigades and I had the Militia. The battle kicked off with the British right advancing quickly to within 12" of the Virginia militia on the Rebel left. However, on their left, the Loyalist brigade under Lord Rawdon failed their command role and stood still. The NC Volunteers on the extreme British left actually withdrew a move (why Rob?). The reserve infantry under Tarleton also stayed put although the British Legion cavalry did advance. In the exchange of fire the Rebels took some heavy losses and two wavering regiments failed their break test and routed, leaving a couple of large holes in the line. The Rebel first move saw the militia on the left advance to within short range of the Light infantry battalion and the 23rd Foot. (It seemed like a good idea at the time). Both British units became disordered and this was the furthest the British regular brigade would get until the very close of the battle as they were held up, disordered and ocassionally shaken by some very good shooting and some unfortunate saving rolls. Meanwhile the Continentals under John had moved forward, partly to save the militia in the cnetre from taking a pounding (they were also wavering and would have to take a break test after taking 1 casualty), and the Virginia State Horse tried to plug the gap in the line left by a routing militia unit.

This move was just in time as the Rob sent the British Legion into the gap, the Virigia Horse countercharged and by some miricle actually won the melee and sent the Legion packing! I even managed to get Armand's Legion cavalry to move, and they slipped past the extreme right of the British line in an attempt to cause some mischief in the rear. Of course, with a command value of 6 and being wavering and unreliable to boot that just wasn't going to happen!

The game continued for another couple of moves, with the British left advancing at last against the Marylanders, while the reserve under Tarleton finally got moving and the two small'ish battalions of the 71st foot move close in to the Rebel centre. Both took heavy casualties and became disordered, and I think the one in the centre did become shaken after taking close range fire from the front and being enfiladed on the left flank. I can't really remember as at this point my militia units were taking losses and having to take break tests, which they survived - for a liilte while.

The battle came to an end when the British Legion infantry charged the (shaken) Delaware battalion and routed them in the melee. Both supporting Continental units also failed their break test. At the same time I failed to save my militia and two more units ran away. This mean that the centre and right of the Rebel line was now in full withdrawal, leaving the remnants of the Virginia militia and a small Continental brigade to try and hold the line. This they clearly would never be able to do so a little over an hour and a half after battle commenced the Rebels conceded defeat.

The British had won, but it was much closer than the final outcome might suggest. The regulars on the British right became bogged down and it was all Rob could do to keep them in the fight as they spent much of the game in a state of disorder due to some lucky throws from yours truly! On the British left, the Loyalists did well to overcome the Continental brigade, and when that happended it was all over! The general concensus was that the game was enjoyable, tense and that the rules yet again worked quite well. What did work was the classification of the really bad militia who proved quite capable of blunting the British advance as long as they didn't get shot at. They did get shot at of course, with predictable results. Likewise, the three rebular British battalions took quite a hammering but managed to remain intact (albeit immobile after turn 1) throughout the whole game.

CAMDEN TONIGHT!

Well, with a bit of luck and a fair wind we shall be refighting the battle of Camden this evening. Rob and John are making the trek up the Dale to thrash this out using Black Powder. I've been messing around (in a very systematic way) with the troop characteristics to get the right 'feel' for the period and indeed individual battles, and to ensure that (a) the British regulars are tough enough tohave a chance of doing what they achieved in real life, and (b), the Rebel militia are as bad as they often were . With the latter its quite easy as you can make them wavering and/or unreliable and even reduce their melee dice. That, coupled with a numpty brigadier or two should do the trick. The British regulars are another matter entirely. Even giving them stuff like first fire, crack and stubborn hasn't been quite enough in previous games. I want to reflect their 'presence' on the battlefield in another way, so this evening they will be classed as large units with terrifying charge against militia. That way, they still die or get disordered as quickly as anyone else but they can take and give a little more punishment on the battlefield. I will rate their commanders higher than the rebels too - Cornwallis may even be a 10 (although not the same scale as applied to Bo Derrick!!!). I've set the terrain out (rather flat and plain but hey!) and deployed the troops in their historical dispositions so ready to go. Kick off is at 18:45 so just time to make something for dinner and find an excuse for a chilled glass of Chablis ;o)

I shall provide an AAR later.

BATTLE OF COWPENS REFIGHT THIS EVENING

Having finally finished my British Legion infantry I decided to refight Cowpens. John came up this evening and we had a very enjoyable couple of hours. John was the British and I took command of the Rebels/Patriots (delete as applicable). We used Black Powder and it was quite easy to customise the armies using the special characterisitics contained in the rules. The Patriot militia was rated a wavering and/or unreliable but the Continentals were obviously much better. The British regulars (not the 7th though) got first fire, crack, steady and ferocious charge. The 7th were made up recruits apparently so were not quite as sharpe as their chums in the Light Btn or the 71st. John's biggest problem was likely to be the fact that he had only a single commander (Tarleton), and while he had a command rating of 9 he was also classed as 'independent' which meant he could blunder on an 11 or 12. The terrain was a bit sparse for my liking so I busied it up with the odd fence and field to break it up, although the only features that had any effect on movement and visibility were the main wooded areas.

The armies were deployed as per the real battle and the British had the first move. They pushed quickly right up to the Patriot skirmish line while the 17th Light Dragoons swept down the right hand side of table having got 3 moves from their die roll. In a brief exchange of fire my skirmishers were driven back and one unit was destroyed. The Patriot second line was stuck as they had a crap brigadier but even the third line wouldn't budge as I threw some rubbish dice. My cavalry did manage to move up a little bit which was to prove very handy later.

John moved the separate troop of Legion cavalry to join the rest of his mounted troops and pushed all his cavalry down the right. The push is coming here I thought! Meanwhile the 7th and 71st Foot (Feet?) moved around the woods to the left. The Light Btn and the Legion infantry passed through the trees although the latter were stuck there for a couple of moves due to poor command rolls and gun remained where it was for the entire game. It was now John found that having just the one commander was a bit of a bitch (although this probably reflected the real battle correctly) as he was getting very overextended and bogged down. Even so, I was getting a bit anxious as unit for unit the Brits were much better than mine.

What followed was a very exciting few turns. My second unit of riflemen eventually ran away, but a stalwart militia unit held off the 7th Foot for long enough for me to get the Continentals up and into the firing line. The remaining unit from the second line managed to retire back to the tree line and held off the Light battalion. (The militia in the first and second lines were pants on paper but I threw some excellent saving throws and enough sixes to disorder the British). The 7th were put under heavy fire and became repeatedly disordered and shaken. Because Tarleton was on the other flank not much could be done to rally them. Luckily for John the 71st were able to pass through them and give them some respite.

On the other flank my Virginia militia held off the British cavalry for a while, and even drove them off when charged - twice! Very lucky! What then followed was a see-saw fight of charge, counter charge and general mayhem as my militia held off the British Legion cavalry and my Continental dragoons eventually destroyed the 17th Lt Dragoons and the large Legion cavalry unit! The Virginia militia turned and enfiladed the Light Btn which sensibly failed a morale test and withdrew to the safety of the remains of the British force.

Time overtook us, but it was agreed that we had an American victory. It was quite a close battle for all that though. The British had not made any headway against the Patriot lines, were in danger of becoming overextended and out of command, were outnumbered, and had lost 2 units of cavalry. Two more units lost and the British would have broken. Overall a great game and proof once again that Black Powder work very well for this period.

BACK HOME FROM EGYPT

Arrived back from holiday yesterday to a pleasant surprise (apart from the weather that is). On the doormat were copies of Wargames Illustrated, Miniature Wargames, Phil Olley's magazine and the resurected Wargames Soldiers and Strategy AND Warlord's Hail Caesar rules. I have to say I am going off Flames of War Illu.......er...Wargames Illustrated. Nothing to do with the content (well, maybe a bit as I have no real interest in gaming WWII using Flames of War) but the articles are in too many cases littered with typos and badly written English aimed (in my view) at punters with a reading age of about 12. WSS was good and I'm glad to see it back. I've not had a chance for more than a quick glance through Hail Caesar but it looks very pretty!

Anyway, the Nile cruise was fab and the ruins and temples awesome. One pic above was taken at Phillae and shows the names of British officers who died of sickness on the 1884-85 expedition. They're all from cavalry regiments which I am sure must be a big clue to which formation they were part of and what they were doing. Its a nice bit of history but a shame that it's defacing a 2500'ish year old temple!

I must get some painting done this weekend as I am hoping to have a game next week and need to get a couple of units finished, especially my British Legion infantry - I've not lifted a brush for almost 3 weeks, which is bad, even allowing for holidays.

Easter holidays

Since my last post at the end of March I have hardly had the time or motivation to paint anything and even less time to have another game. Just one of those things I guess - a combination of being busy at work, my stupid bad back and other stuff.....although I have written up a few American Revolution scenarios to fight using Black Powder. Anyway, On Tuesday evening I am going to Egypt on a Nile cruise for a week. Can't really take any stuff to paint but I must trawl amazon and see if there's anything interesting I can put onto my Kindle. My main fear is that I will return with an insatiable desire to start an ancient Egytptian army, especially as by the time I get home Warlord Games will have released their 'Hail Caesar' rules and a copy should be on my doormat. I received book 3 of British Grenadier scenarios last week, and althougb I am not a particular fan of the rules, the book itself is very nice indeed! Meanwhile the painting is mounting up as I have several units on the go at the moment - British Legion, Lee's Legion dragoons and infantry, Armand's Legion infantry and some Hessian generals. Anyway, I'd better go and look for my pithe helmet............

Another American Revolution game - Black Powder this time!

My back was much better so Rob and John made a return trip last week and replayed our previous American Revolution scenario, slightly tweeked and this time using Black Powder. I was the British this time, and John and Rob played the Rebels. The British had to get their supply train off the table, with one brigade, made up largely of light troops and cavalry, on table as the escort with two other brigades due to enter at the opposite end of the table to cover their exit. I made the British regulars all large units with first fire, crack, steady, elite and ferocious charge. The loyalists were less impressive but at least they got the first fire rule. The Rebels had four brigades, some 15 battalions in total with some dragoons, artillery and riflemen in support. Two brigades were made up of Continentals and the other two of pretty poor militia (ok, in one case, very poor militia, classed as wavering and unreliable)

The rebels entered the table and in places made some good progress, passing most of their command tests, although the militia were hard to keep moving uless they stayed in march column fopr as long as possible. Two small units of cavalry swept right across almost to the British baseline. I have to say that my baggade train and escort looked like they would be cut off as I rolled some poor command dice for the escort and my reinforcements were very slow in deploying at the other end of the table. My grenadier battalion was badly shot up by Rob's Continentals and had to retire shaken, which didn't do my nerves any good!

The rebels pushed on and the engagement developed into a race - would the baggage get to the protection of the reinfrcements or would they be cut off? The British were also saved by the refusal of the 3rd Continental dragoons to charge into the Guards light companies, followed by a blunder that sent them running away right into the face of their own infantry, which prevented said infantry from getting stuck in. Although my 17th Light Dragoons also failed to charge into their rear, this, together with the arrival of the Hessian von Bose regiment, the Guards, the 17th foot 71st Foot and the 23rd Fusiliers plus the Volunteers of Ireland and a couple of guns, gave me enough time to get my forces on the right into some sort of order.

However, on the left, my Hessian jager were falling back (although they did beat off a militia unit in melee in the process), the Light Infantry battalion was pinned in the farm area facing a brigade of militia and the Queen's Rangers were on the far left facing an entire brigade of thankfully very slow moving and unco-ordinated Continentals.

Sadly, the baggage was lost to the dragoons of Armand's Legion and a battalion of militia as the British Legion just couldn't get moving.

We ended the game there due to time constraints having played for over two and a half hours. The Rebels had captured the baggage but as it was militia who had done the capturing there was a chance they would loot it and drink themselves silly on British rum! (Sounds like a good idea under any other circumstances) Technically a Rebel victory but it would have been interesting to see if they could have got off the table without the British being able to recapture the baggage.

We all agreed that this game had been much more satisfying than the two previous ones played using British Grenadier. The rules managed to reflect the period very well in my opinion, especially in terms of command and control and the brittleness of the Rebel militia. The British regulars were quite tough and could take a fair bit of damage but died just as quickly all the same. The verdict? A very satisfying and enjoyable wargame and one that has converted me to Black Powder as a perfectly good ruleset for this period.