Armistice Day 11 November 2016

Crisis 2016 - Colin and Katherine's excellent long weekend in Antwerp

As readers will know I found myself in Antwerp this weekend so was able to go to the Crisis wargames show organised by the Tin Soldiers of Antwerp club. I've never been to this event before and I have to say I was mightily impressed by the whole thing.

I'd been in contact with one of the organisers beforehand (Willie Borgaerts) to ask about disabled entry arrangements and was told I could jump the queue and go to a different entrance and pick up my wrist band and goodie bag from there. That was great as it was bloody cold outside with a bitter wind blowing in off the Scheldt. And when we got inside we were taken to the information desk and given our stuff, and despite trying to pay, were admitted free of charge as guests of TSA. What a lovely start to the day.

The queue outside was massive, ok maybe not as big as the one at Salute but not far off. Inside the place was soon heaving with a throng of enthusiastic wargamers, with many an English (and Scottish) voice to be heard. We had a slow meander down the right hand side of both halls, stopping at Colonel Bills to pick up some bits that I'd pre-ordered. I don't live that far from Stuart so on the face of it it seemed silly, but we were coming anyway so...... I left the wife Whatsapp'ing with the daughter while I continued my wandering, bumping into any number of familiar faces en route. I had a good natter with Ian of Eagle Figures looking none the worse for his recent marriage, Stuart of Studio Minis who was tempting me with more of his Afghan and Sikh Wars ranges, Barry Hilton, Wayne off the WI stand and Duncan MacFarlane to name but a few. When I spoke to Andy Worsley of the Last Valley at around 11:30 he was looking very happy with an almost completely empty display area and a very full wallet no doubt. At the Flag Dude's stand Rick asked if I spoke French as he was struggling with a customer as they had no common language between them. My French is ok but best used in conjunction with requesting food and drink and so forth, but I offered to call Katherine over as she is pretty fluent. The offer was gratefully accepted and she was able to sort things out and translate. Diplomatic mission complete and the entente cordiale rekindled it would have been poor form not to buy some flags from 'my American cousin' that I didn't need so only bought eight for my 1799 French and Russians.

We were hungry by this time so exchanged some Euros for food/beer tokens and got ourselves a late (2nd) breakfast and some coffee. The food here looked very good (our croissants and stuff were fresh) and the bar, alas, was excellent judging by the number of punters and the range of beer on offer. The tokens system worked well as it saved time dithering around for change and stuff and kept the flow moving at the food and beer counters. The only minor criticism would be that the queues for the food and the queue for the tokens caused a massive pan-European log jam.

I left Katherine in the cafe doing some work (i.e. shopping) on her laptop and ventured back into the maelstrom. The bring and buy (or bring and sell as it was called) was heaving. I became trapped in a seething mass ambling slowly round the one-way circuit. As I had my wheeled 'walker' with me many people made space for me to get through which was nice. Those few who didn't I just ran over! But politely.

There were loads of traders, many from the UK but quite a number from the Continent who you wouldn't normally see at a British show, Schilling Zinfiguren being one example. There were also quite a few 'independent' traders selling second-hand stuff, including entire armies, and there was many a bargain to be had. The games were pretty good overall. Not many that one might class as superb, but many in the 'good' category for certain, although some were only average. There was the usual mix of club games, including several from the UK, and quite a number of games promoting a set of rules, such as Sharp Practice and To the Strongest for example.

So some pictures of the show. I'm know I missed several games and haven't used all the photos taken so apologies for that. Also, I didn't take note of who all the games are by but where I can remember I've said.

 15mm Zulu War

 Field gun race by South London Warlords

 WW2 Pacific attack on a Japanese island

 Zombies! No thank you.

 The next couple are of the early renaissance game in 28mm by Der Alte Garde (two guys from SE Belgium - edit, actually SE Netherlands, sorry guys). Loved it, especially all the venerable Hinchcliffe figures.

 A super Wild West game, reminiscent of Toy Story, Wagon Train, Champion the Wonderhorse and more all rolled into one.

 Simon Miller's Romans v Successor game using To the Strongest. It looked pretty impressive.

 Romans v Gauls this time in 28mm

 A quite nice 15mm USMC assault on another Japanese island.

 A very impressive Samnites v Romans game by the Brabantia Militia Club.

 This time its the Japanese attacking a US-held island. Some nice pieces on this table.

 League of Augsberg Swedes v Saxons and Russians in Livonia during the Great Northern War.

 Two Fat Lardies demonstrating Sharp Practice II in what looks like an 1840's Arabian Gulf pirate bashing game. It certainly had a big crowd. I asked Richard if he still had the 15mm Maximilian in Mexico armies I sold him in pre-Ebay days, and he does!

 Inside Fort Vaux - very impressive.

 Two wintry Napoleonic games

 Boer War I think....

 A By Fire and Sword game.

 Two games showcasing the new Tin Soldiers in action rules, including the famed Battle of Hooks Farm.

 Another game pushing a new set of rules - no prizes for guessing which one.

When we got back to our apartment I was amazed at how much stuff I'd bought that I had absolutely no idea that I had needed. Copies of To the Strongest and Tin Soldiers in Action, WI even though I subscribe, some pre-ordered bits off Colonel Bill, more bits off Warbases and Schilling Zinnfiguren, a free figure from Gringo 40's and Tercio Miniatures, and the 'Bonnie Scotland' set from Empress Miniatures (my wife's grandfather was the military advisor to Hal Roach on this movie, him being ex-Indian Army and all that and resident in California at the time it was made).

Many of the games were rather cluttered which was a shame and as mentioned earlier some areas of the two halls were quite cramped (for me anyway) resulting in blockages in the flow of punters, especially around the catering area as mentioned but also in the doorway between the two halls. But a minor inconvenience as everyone was very polite as I trundled my way through and over the crowds.

Apart from that this was an excellent show, well organised by an incredibly courteous and helpful team. Antwerp is also a great place to go for a long weekend so Crisis 2017 is already in my diary. 

Catherine the Great single by Irish band Divine Comedy

I heard this in a taxi today for the first time even though it was released in the summer. Interesting.

https://youtu.be/S4V7WBq72Gg

Another battle a bit nearer to Cassel than last time: French/Dutch War 1672-78

Robbie and John came up this week for a game. I wanted to have another go with Impetus Baroque with my French and Dutch armies from 1672-78. Now, when Conrad and I played the other week using Pike and Shot I put ALL my troops that were currently available on the table. It didn't matter that it was a little crowded even on a 12 foot table, especially as P and S are pretty brutal and gaps soon began to appear in each army.

Baroque are another kettle of fish, especially as I added a further three squadrons of French horse to the armies; the Mousquetiers du Roi, Gens d'Armes de France and a squadron of standard French horse. This made the armies exactly equal in horse and foot, more or less equal in artillery but the French had a 4:2 advantage in dragoons. I don't like the way Baroque treat dragoons any more than I do in P and S. They can become battle-winning super troops rather than the jack of all trades chaps that they were in reality. By the late 17th C I believe they were beginning to be used more in the mounted battle line and to fight dismounted in close order where appropriate, for example holding a village, hedge line or a sunken road. Then again it's up to the players to make sure that they use all and any troops types in the fashion of the period rather than the within the parameters of the rules set.

So, to battle. Robbie and I were the Allies (Dutch/Spanish/Imperial) and John took the French. The objectives were simple. Control the entire length of the road including the bridge and two towns AND duff up the other side.

 The French right wing. Maison du Roi et al.

 The field of battle from the Allied centre. Dutch Horse in the foreground, behind which are a brigade of Dutch and beyond them the Spanish and Imperial contingents.

 The Dutch right: Horseguards, Lifeguards and the Guard Dragoons supported by a brigade of Dutch foot. Just in picture at the top are two battalions of the Dutch Footguards.

 The French infantry advance. These troops are on their right flank.

 My Dutch Horseguards and Lifeguards charged the French and drove the first

 line back.

 The Cuirassiers du Roi in the centre looking menacing.

 Both sides advanced in the centre and quickly got into musket range. Robbie's artillery failed to do any significant damage to the French.

 The lines close ever further and casualties mount. The sheep are unconcerned.

 The Mouquetiers du Roi clashed with my Horseguards in the swirling cavalry melee happening on the Dutch right. The Dutch were holding their own but were seriously outnumbered and the losses were beginning to tell.

 I even had to push my dragoons forward to deal with a brigade of French dragoons occupying the town. 

 The Gens d'Armes de France locked in melee with the Dutch horseguards. The latter were defeated and forced to withdraw. The other squadron of Horseguards (in the background) was in melee with some fresh French horse and also defeated. It wasn't going very well on our right flank.

 The battlefield from the Dutch right. Both armies were locked in combat, often at point blank range and not surprisingly the battlefield was becoming rather less crowded than at the start.

 The Dutch Footguards had foolishly tried to occupy the churchyard but were forced to pull back. The other battalion was able to deliver some very effective fire on the French foot and horse before the brigade was broken. On the hill in the foreground, the Gens d'Armes de France had followed up into the disordered Dutch Mackay's Regiment whom they pushed back and then broke.

 More fresh French horse avoided any casualties from the Dutch Brandenburg regiment when the latter failed to score a single hit at point blank range, even with the advantage of first fire!

 On the Dutch left, Robbie was holding the French infantry, which included several Guard and Swiss battalions, even managing to route the Gardes Suisse. The French drove the Spanish dragoons out of the town but the Spanish foot were made of sterner stuff. Gaps were appearing in both lines. Unfortunately one of these gaps made room for the Cuirassiers du Roi who were revving up their horses for a mad charge on Robbie's weakened centre.

 Back to the Dutch right, just before it totally collapsed!

We called it a day as we were running out of time, declaring it a French victory. I enjoyed the game immensely as I don't mind loosing when playing with two (though I say so myself) spectacular armies. Hopefully Robbie and John will also have enjoyed their day.

Next time though I will have to think hard about the wisdom of putting literally every figure I had on the table. Its 12' x 5' so I don't think it was too crowded. And they didn't really do sweeping flank moves in the late 17hC, not during a battle anyway, but maybe in the run up to one.

After a few minor repairs to pikes and flags this lot will be going back to barracks for a while as its about time I planned for a Seven Years War or War of the Austrian Succession game again. No game this coming week as we're off to Antwerp for Crisis and a long weekend.